Writing an incident report

Incident reports exist so we can learn from what went wrong and prove we took it seriously. The job is to capture the detail while it's fresh — a vague report a week later is worse than useless.

When to report

• Any complaint — written, verbal, or an offhand grumble that felt significant.
• Any patient injury or fall on the premises.
• Any near-miss — almost scanning the wrong patient, a contrast reaction, equipment failure.
• Any privacy breach (see /tricky/privacy).
• Any staff injury or workplace safety incident.
• Any aggressive, threatening, or abusive behaviour.

When in doubt, report. Over-reporting is fine. Under-reporting is both a quality-of-care risk and a regulatory one.

When to report by

• End of shift for routine incidents.
• Immediately for anything clinical or safety-significant — before you finish the next task.

What to capture

• Date and time, as precise as you can make them.
• Location (room number, reception, car park — be specific).
• People involved: full names, roles, witnesses.
• A chronological account of what happened, start to finish.
• Direct quotes where you have them — put them in quotation marks so it's clear they're verbatim.
• What was done in response.
• The outcome at the time you're writing.
• What follow-up is still pending.

How to write it

Stick to facts. Don't interpret, don't speculate, don't apportion blame. Avoid "I think" and "they probably" — if you're uncertain, write "I was told that..." or "according to {name}..." so it's clear you're reporting second-hand information.

Where it goes

Submit via [placeholder: incident reporting system — intranet form / PDF template / other]. The office manager reviews every incident within 1 business day.

Copy-paste template

Date and time: [placeholder]

Location: [placeholder]

People involved: [placeholder]

What happened: [placeholder — chronological, fact-based]

What was done: [placeholder]

Outcome and follow-up: [placeholder]