Overview And Definition Of Significant Event Analysis (SEA)

Overview and Definition of Significant Event Analysis (SEA)

Many incidents happen in dental practices that would be considered as significant. An SEA can be regarded as “….any event thought by anyone in the team to be significant in the care of patients or the conduct or the practice.”

These events are often positive and create a good experience for the patient. The team have worked to a high standard and this has been reflected in patient care. Practice teams can look at these positive events and identify what individual factors came together on these occasions to produce the positive outcomes. Unfortunately, some events are negative, these areas can also benefit from the practice undertaking a SEA.

SEA is a type of audit which takes an individual event and gives every person involved a chance to reflect and establish what happened, why, and what can be learned from this.

The essence of SEA is to identify and learn from the experiences. The process can be used to:  Highlight significant incidents and how they contribute to the performance of the practice  As an opportunity to identify what it was the team did well or improve the role of the dental team - reflecting and learning from important events  Discuss the event and each individual’s part in it  Take appropriate action by identifying training needs of team or individuals, introducing the necessary changes  And, of course, enhance patient safety

Significant events happen periodically in dental practice, often highlighting areas where improvement could be made in practice systems, however because of lack of time, commitment, or knowledge, opportunities to correct deficiencies are missed. Carrying out SEA will help to identify and prioritise the underlying issues which have contributed to the significant events, allowing you to undertake a structured analysis of the event(s).

By undertaking a few SEAs you will become to understand the importance and role of SEA as a non-threatening flexible tool for reflective learning. By producing a smooth introduction of regular team based discussion and analysis, improved patient care will follow.

It should be noted that while NES intends to deal with SEA reports in strict confidence, please be aware that where there are overwhelming clinical or ethical reasons to do so, NES may be obliged to take further action which may include sharing information from the SEA report with relevant professional bodies.

Analysing Significant Events Simply acknowledging and discussing a significant event among colleagues after it happens is not enough; it is likely to recur if that is all you do. Using the seven step approach to identifying and investigating events can highlight care or methods of practice that could be improved.