Significant Event Analysis (SEA)
Learning from significant events has now become an established part of general practice, with the majority of practices undertaking SEA regularly as part of the nGMS (new GMC) contract framework.
The SEA process is a method of reflective learning which can be used to analyse incidents where patients are unintentionally harmed - or could have been - as part of the care process. The SEA process can also be used to analyse examples of high quality care.
As a sessional GP, opportunities may be limited for you to participate.
Ideally SEA meetings should involve all those who had a role in the event. If at all possible you should ask any practice where you have worked whether you can attend their SEA meeting if there has been an event that involves you.
If this is not possible, an alternative would be to discuss the event with a group of your peers - for example a small study group. Although this may still be valuable, it runs the risk of missing vital information from some of the others involved in the event.
If you are not able to take part in a small study group, you could still write up an event of personal significance, present it as a reflective study, and discuss it with your appraiser.
Possible solutions
- Consider joining a group of sessional GPs. Many sessional doctors find this is a useful way to exchange information about common problems, obtain peer support and learning from each other. Some groups have regular educational programmes and using SEA as a learning tool could support the appraisal process and provide evidence for each group member.
- If you have a practice for which you provide regular sessional cover, ask if you can attend any SEA sessions they may hold. It may be possible to include an event where you were one of the professionals involved, and you may gain some support from the process of exploring the difficulties the team members have encountered.
- If you don't have access to a regular practice, but an event took place when you were doing a casual session which caused you concern, you could ask the practice concerned if they would consider holding an SEA and including you in it. This may seem threatening for you, but it can often defuse their concerns or misunderstandings about your role as the outsider.
- If these options seem difficult to arrange, try a case report proforma. This is not ideal, because part of the learning process is to explore with others what went well, what could have been different, and what has been learned from an adverse event. Your appraiser will be able to help you reflect on the case report, but an independent peer or group of peers can allow you to produce a more balanced report to discuss with your appraiser when you meet.
There are a variety of resources and templates which you may find helpful. Please see list on main toolkit.
This page was last updated on: 07/11/2024
