Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many Strategic Executive Information System reports dating from before the Health and Social Care Act 2012 are waiting conclusion.

Data and information safeguarding was strengthened under the Health and Social Care Act 2012. When data was extracted on 4 February the Strategic Executive Information System (STEIS) held reports of 1,255 Serious Incidents whose status was not classified as ‘closed’. It is not possible to determine from the database which of these incidents had been resolved locally.

The principles for responding to Serious Incidents are set out in the current Serious Incident Framework, published in March 2013, and this includes the roles and responsibilities of providers and commissioners including effective governance and learning from a serious incident.

NHS England is currently refreshing the Serious Incident Framework to take account of supporting all the guidance produced since March 2013 over 2013-14 and to reflect operational feedback on the implementation of the 2013 Framework.