Keep improvement actions visible after an incident review

What this means for your practice

Track corrective actions as owned tasks linked to the original record. Closing a review and completing all actions are different events that should remain distinguishable.

What to ask before you choose

Ask to see a fictional review closed with two actions still outstanding. The action owners should still find their tasks, and a manager should see what remains unresolved. For example, publishing revised instructions may complete one action, while checking that staff can find them completes another. Agree who accepts the evidence before marking the improvement finished.

Define what finishing each action means

An action such as 'improve instructions' is difficult to close consistently. Describe the change and the evidence the responsible person will review. For example, the task could be to publish an approved procedure and show that reception can find it. Keep the evidence proportionate to the action rather than demanding a large report for every small correction.

If several actions depend on one another, make that relationship visible. Staff training may depend on the revised instructions being ready, so moving a deadline can affect more than one item. Record why a date changes and who agreed it. At a review meeting, ask what remains to be done and what is awaiting acceptance. A task marked complete by its author may still need someone else to check the result. The software should help the team follow that distinction without hiding unfinished work when the main review record is closed.

How to check the result

Track actions awaiting evidence rather than merely marked complete.