Reporting Notifiable Incidents to HIQA and the Chief Inspector under the Patient Safety (Notifiable Incidents and Open Disclosure) Act 2023.

Where a health services provider is satisfied that a notifiable incident under the Act, as listed in the table below, has occurred in the course of the provision of a health service to a patient, it shall notify HIQA or the Chief Inspector of Social Services where appropriate, as soon as practicable, and no later than seven days from the day the provider was satisfied the incident had occurred. The health services provider shall make the notification by means of the National Treasury Management Agency incident management system (NIMS).

For notifications outside of the scope of the Act, please see HIQA’s Provider Portal and relevant notification forms under our Guidance for Providers section.

For any queries relating to the submission of notifiable incidents, please email patientsafetyactincidents@hiqa.ie

  • All private health services providers such as:
    -    private hospitals
    -    private clinics.
  • All private health services providers that carry out the business of a designated centre such as:
    -    nursing homes.

NIMS portal for private health services providers: https://psa.nims.ie/

Type of Notifiable Incident (Short Text)

Full Text Of Notification

1.1 Surgery performed on the wrong patient - unintended and unanticipated death

1.1 Surgery performed on the wrong patient resulting in unintended and unanticipated death which did not arise from, or was a consequence of, an illness, or an underlying condition, of the patient, or having regard to any such illness or underlying condition, was not wholly attributable to that illness. 

1.2 Surgery performed on the wrong site - unintended and unanticipated death

1.2 Surgery performed on the wrong site resulting in unintended and unanticipated death which did not arise from, or was a consequence of, an illness, or an underlying condition, of the patient, or having regard to any such illness or underlying condition, was not wholly attributable to that illness. 

1.3 Wrong surgical procedure performed on patient-unintended unanticipated death

1.3 Wrong surgical procedure performed on a patient resulting in an unintended and unanticipated death which did not arise from, or was a consequence of, an illness, or an underlying condition, of the patient, or having regard to any such illness or underlying condition, was not wholly attributable to that illness. 

1.4 Unintended retention of a foreign object in a patient - unanticipated death

1.4 Unintended retention of a foreign object in a patient after surgery resulting in an unanticipated death which did not arise from, or was a consequence of, an illness, or an underlying condition, of the patient, or having regard to any such illness or underlying condition, was not wholly attributable to that illness. 

1.5 Healthy patient undergoing elective surgery-unintended, unanticipated death

1.5 Any unintended and unanticipated death occurring in an otherwise healthy patient undergoing elective surgery in any place or premises in which a health services provider provides a health service where the death is directly related to a surgical operation or anaesthesia (including recovery from the effects of anaesthesia) and the death did not arise from, or was a consequence of (or wholly attributable to) the illness of the patient or an underlying condition of the patient. 

1.6 Unintended, unanticipated death directly related to any medical treatment

1.6 Any unintended and unanticipated death occurring in any place or premises in which a health services provider provides a health service that is directly related to any medical treatment and the death did not arise from, or was a consequence of (or wholly attributable to) the illness of the patient or an underlying condition of the patient. 

1.7 Patient death due to transfusion of ABO incompatible blood/blood components

1.7 Patient death due to transfusion of ABO incompatible blood or blood components and the death was unintended and unanticipated and which did not arise from, or was a consequence of (or wholly attributable to) the illness of the patient or an underlying condition of the patient. 

1.8 Patient death associated with a medication error

1.8 Patient death associated with a medication error and the death was unintended and unanticipated as it did not arise from, or was a consequence of (or wholly attributable to) the illness of the patient or an underlying condition of the patient. 

1.9 Unanticipated death while pregnant or within 42 days of the end of pregnancy

1.9 An unanticipated death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of the end of the pregnancy from any cause related to, or aggravated by, the management of the pregnancy, and which did not arise from, or was a consequence of (or wholly attributable to) the illness of the patient or an underlying condition of the patient. 

1.10 An unanticipated and unintended stillborn child

1.10 An unanticipated and unintended stillborn child where the child was born without a fatal foetal abnormality and with a prescribed birthweight or has achieved a prescribed gestational age and who shows no sign of life at birth, from any cause related to or aggravated by the management of the pregnancy, and the death did not arise from, or was a consequence of (or wholly attributable to) the illness of the patient or an underlying condition of the child. 

1.11 An unanticipated and unintended perinatal death

1.11 An unanticipated and unintended perinatal death where a child born with, or having achieved, a prescribed gestational age and a prescribed birthweight who was alive at the onset of care in labour, from any cause related to, or aggravated by, the management of the pregnancy, and the death did not arise from, or was a consequence of (or wholly attributable to) the illness of the child or an underlying condition of the child. 

1.12 An unintended death of a patient where the cause is believed to be suicide

1.12 An unintended death where the cause is believed to be the suicide of a patient while being cared for in or at a place or premises in which a health services provider provides a health service whether or not the death was anticipated or arose from, or was wholly or partially attributable to, the illness or underlying condition of the patient. 

2.1 (a) A baby who is referred for therapeutic hypothermia

2.1 (a) in the clinical judgment of the treating health practitioner requires, or is referred for, therapeutic hypothermia, or  

2.1 (b) A baby who did not undergo therapeutic hypothermia-contraindicated

2.1 (b) A baby who has been considered for, but did not undergo therapeutic hypothermia as, in the clinical judgment of the health practitioner, such therapy was contraindicated due to the severity of the presenting condition.