PSIRF Starter Kit for independent healthcare providers and care services that use PSIRF (England)

Safe care depends on three things. Look after the people affected. Understand what really happened. Keep learning, so care gets safer.

The Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) asks providers to do exactly that, in proportion to their size and risk. This kit gives a small team the templates to do it, with plain instructions and a filled-in worked example for each one, so you can start using them the same day.

Who it is for

• Independent healthcare providers in England that deliver NHS-funded care under the NHS Standard Contract, where PSIRF is a contract requirement.
• Small and medium providers with one or a few sites and no patient safety team, where one person may hold several roles. For example independent hospitals and clinics, day surgery and diagnostic services, community services, hospices, and nursing homes with NHS-funded care.
• Adult social care services that do not hold an NHS Standard Contract, and providers of privately funded care, that choose to follow PSIRF principles.

The kit is written for England only. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland use different frameworks.

What is in the kit

1. Proportionality decision log (Excel log and Word decision record). Record, for each incident, the immediate safety actions, any required referral, the learning potential, the response you chose, why, and who decided.
2. After action review template (Word). Run and write up a short, facilitated team discussion of what was expected, what happened and what to learn.
3. Swarm huddle template (Word). Capture a quick team huddle held straight after an incident, with immediate risks and actions.
4. Multidisciplinary review template (Word). Plan and record a review of past or repeated incidents with staff from several professions.
5. PSII pack (Word). Decide, set up and run a patient safety incident investigation (PSII). The worksheets feed every heading of NHS England's national PSII report template (version 1.1), which you still use for the final report.
6. Engagement letter set (Word). Letters for patients and families (first letter, update, closing) and for staff (invitation, thank you and findings), with guidance on tone and timing.
7. Oversight and safety action log (Excel). Track every safety action until it is checked and working, track learning responses, and give your leadership team a regular summary.
8. PSIRF policy template for small providers (Word). A short policy setting out your approach, roles, training, engagement, staff support and oversight.
9. Patient safety incident response plan template (Word). Set out your safety issues and planned responses, with a one-page incident profile worksheet.
10. How to use this kit (Word and PDF). Set-up steps, the roles your contract requires, a timescales table showing what the law and national guidance say, the worked example traced through every template, tips, pitfalls and a glossary.

Templates 2, 3 and 4 are based on NHS England's national tools for those methods. The wording throughout is our own.

Interactive guide

The kit also includes an interactive guide, a single file you open in your web browser. It takes you through Templates 1 to 9 screen by screen, with worked examples, short quizzes and tick lists. The quizzes are a quick self-check, not training. It works offline and saves nothing. If the guide and a template ever differ, the template wording applies.

One incident, followed all the way through

Every template uses the same made-up example: a night-time fall with a wrist fracture on a small rehabilitation unit with NHS-funded beds. You can see how the decision log feeds the learning response, which feeds the action log, which feeds the summary for your leaders. One reference number follows the incident through every template.

What is not included

• Legal, clinical or regulatory advice. The kit is general good practice.
• Training. The kit lists the training topics NHS England sets for people in PSIRF roles and points to national options. It does not provide the training.
• Sign-off from your commissioner. You still agree your policy and plan with your commissioner and your own leadership team.
• A replacement for NHS England's national PSII report template. The PSII pack helps you do the work and fill it in.
• An investigation carried out for you.
• Specific national requirements for maternity, screening, custody and other specialist services, beyond pointers to the national guidance.
• Incident reporting software.

The engagement letters are templates to adapt. Check them with your own legal or indemnity adviser before use.

What you download

One zip file with all the Word and Excel templates, the interactive guide, and the How to use this kit guide as a PDF, so you can read it first. Your download is available straight away after payment. Your download link works up to ten times.

Your licence

One purchase covers one organisation and all its sites. Your staff may edit and adapt the templates and use them inside your organisation. You may not sell them, publish them or share them with another organisation. The full licence is in section 7 of our terms of sale.

Price and your right to cancel

Price includes UK VAT. Consumers have a 14-day right to cancel. You lose this right once your download starts, because at checkout you agree that it can start straight away. If a file is faulty, we will put it right or give you a refund. See our refund and cancellation policy.

Keeping it current

Version 1.1, checked against NHS England's PSIRF guidance on 17 October 2026. Version 1.1 adds the interactive guide and small wording corrections. Cognito reviews this kit every 12 months and when NHS England updates its PSIRF guidance. If we update the kit within 12 months of your purchase, you can download the new version free from your original download link, and we will email you to let you know.

Please note

General good practice, not legal or regulatory advice. Check NHS England's current PSIRF guidance and your commissioner's requirements. Using this kit does not by itself meet any contract, legal or regulatory requirement.

This kit is written by Cognito Consultants in our own words. It refers to NHS England's national guidance and points you to it. It is not produced, approved or endorsed by NHS England, CQC or any other regulator.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Cognito Consultants Ltd. Private limited company registered in England and Wales, company number 12928272. Registered office: Office LG06, 1 Quality Court, Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1HR. VAT GB439940166. info@cognitoconsultants.com