The reporting of patient safety incidents—first experiences with the chiropractic reporting and learning system (CRLS): A pilot study

Abstract

Summary Objective To design and test a reporting format for patient safety incidents (PSIs) related to chiropractic practice. Design A pilot study of adverse event monitoring. Setting Field chiropractic practice and the teaching clinic of the Anglo-European College of Chiropractic. Subjects Members of the British Chiropractic Association and final year clinical students. Methods Following design of a reporting format, chiropractors and/or final year clinical students responded by completing a form and submitting this to a central collection point for analysis. Results Forms were received from seven field practitioners and from 63 students providing information on a number of PSIs. The low number of field practitioners responding prevented any summative analysis and the results are therefore presented individually. With reference to the final year clinical students, the majority of PSIs were associated with misuse of therapeutic equipment (32%) and the treatment intervention itself (31%). Conclusions Gathering information on PSIs using this format was shown to be both feasible and fit for purpose. Further work is planned to widen access and to facilitate and promote the attributes for an informed safety culture for the chiropractic profession.