Morbidity, Patient Safety Event, Learning and Risk Reporting
The South Wales and South West Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) Network is committed to promoting patient safety, shared learning and continuous improvement across the CHD pathway.
In line with the NHS England Congenital Heart Disease Standards and the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF), the Network provides system-level oversight by identifying cross-provider themes, pathway risks and opportunities for improvement across partner organisations.
Provider organisations remain responsible for reporting of patient safety events and determining and delivering appropriate PSIRF learning responses through their local governance processes. The Network’s role is to support shared learning, coordinate discussion of system-wide issues and facilitate improvements across the pathway.
Learning and emerging themes are reviewed through the Network Clinical Governance Group and Network Board to support safer, more effective care for children, young people and adults with congenital heart disease.
NHS England PSIRF supporting guidance: oversight roles and responsibilities specification
Our Reporting Process and Reporting Form
The Network’s Morbidity, Patient Safety Event, Learning and Risk Reporting document provides details of the process, including notification criteria and reporting arrangements.
To report a patient safety event, please use the Patient Safety, Event Risk and Learning Reporting Form.
When to notify the Network
Organisations are encouraged to notify the Network of events, risks, or concerns that may have:
- Cross provider impact
- Workforce capacity or service sustainability implications
- Quality, audit, regulatory, or reputational concerns
- Opportunities for wider learning across the CHD network
Ensuring good governance is a key responsibility of any NHS organisation, and the South Wales and South West CHD Network is committed to this.
The Network governance structure is organised into several key components. At the highest level, the Network reports into NHS England for assurance purposes, ensuring compliance with national standards and guidelines. The Network is hosted by Bristol NHS Foundation Trust (formerly University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust) and is accountable through its established governance arrangements and Network Board.
The Board includes representatives across Level 1, 2 and 3 centres within the Network, including clinicians, managers, commissioners, patients and public representatives, and is responsible for overseeing delivery of the Network's annual workplan.
The Network is unique in that it operates across two separate national healthcare systems, NHS Wales and NHS England, where there are fundamental differences in organisational structure, commissioning and funding models.
In England, the Network works closely with NHS England and the South West Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) through regional collaborative commissioning arrangements for specialised services and congenital heart disease pathways. In Wales, the Network works collaboratively with the NHS Wales Joint Commissioning Committee (Wales JCC), the national commissioning body responsible for specialised services on behalf of NHS Wales.
Dedicated task and finish groups support the delivery of specific workstreams and the patient and public voice (PPV) group meets regularly to ensure that the views and experiences of patients and families remain at the heart of the Network's work. This structure ensures comprehensive governance and collaboration across all levels of care delivery.
