Patients’ willingness to complete written incident report forms in one UK tertiary cancer hospital

Abstract

This article examines patients’ willingness to complete incident report forms, providing a description of the event or concern. Differing from other studies, its design enabled patients to report incidents when and if they felt this necessary, rather than responding to researchers’ questions. A total of 145 patients receiving treatment for cancer in a UK hospital were invited to participate. Of the 100 patients who agreed to participate, only 13 completed a total of 22 forms. The form’s purpose was not easily understood, often perceived as complaining and patients tended to report relatively trivial matters. Contrary to previous studies, this study found little evidence that incident report forms are the right tool for enabling patients’ proactive involvement in safety improvement. Asking patients to monitor their safety by completing incident report forms may serve to undermine patients’ trust in their clinicians while duplicating resources.