Identification and Management of Cause for Concern in National Clinical Audits and Clinical Outcome Review Programmes in England and Wales

This guidance explains what the term ‘Cause for Concern’ means in the context of national clinical audits and clinical outcome review programmes. It is designed to support the organisations who deliver these programmes as part of the National Clinical Audit and Patient Outcomes Programme (NCAPOP) to understand:

• Their own responsibilities,
• What they should expect from healthcare providers and/or healthcare commissioners,
• How HQIP should be engaged in the process,
• The need to develop their project-specific Cause for Concern policies.

It relates to the rare circumstance in which information submitted to the NCAPOP supplier could reasonably suggest the presence of very serious issues with clinical practice or system failure that presents a risk of harm to patients.

Where the information is already being responded to as part of an audit’s normal outlier process, the outlier policy takes precedent.