Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to classify surgical fires in operating theatres as never events.

There are no plans to classify surgical fires in operating theatres as Never Events.

Never Events are defined as serious incidents that are wholly preventable because guidance or safety recommendations that provide strong systemic protective barriers are available at a national level and should have been implemented by all healthcare providers.

Strong systemic protective barriers are defined as barriers that must be successful, reliable and comprehensive safeguards or remedies – such as a connector that stops a medicine being given by the wrong route or a window restrictor which prevents a window being opened wide enough for a patient to get through.

There is currently no national guidance or safety recommendations that provides such safeguards to prevent surgical fires in operating theatres. These types of incidents cannot therefore be defined as a Never Event.