This session will introduce you to strategies & interventions to reduce diagnostic errors in your consultations.

Learning objectives:

  1. Understand the higher risk scenarios that increase the risk of a diagnostic accident
  2. Understand why diagnostic accidents occur during consultations
  3. Understand the principles and practices of SAFER Consulting
  4. Understand how the DART & DAPP system can identify the cause of an accident and prevent it from happening again

SAFER Consulting: How to manage diagnostic uncertainty & reduce diagnostic errors in your consultations

Consultations often end with us being uncertain about the diagnosis, or whether the patient will develop a serious complication of what is usually a minor illness. Knowing how to manage this safely is essential to protect both patients and those who care for them from harm. In addition, studies have shown that around 1-in-10 diagnoses in primary care are incorrect and that this results in serious harm to patients in 1-in-1000 consultations. When these events occur, they cause heartache and complaints for GP’s and concerns about making a mistake contributes to stress and burn-out. These sessions will help you to understand the causes of diagnostic uncertainty and errors during consultations and what you can do to manage these risks more safely.

Session 2: Reducing diagnostic errors through the use of accident prevention plans

Incorrect diagnoses are not uncommon in primary care and they occur for many different reasons. When they happen, they tend be regarded as being diagnostic “errors”, inferring that it has been caused by an error that has been made by the individual, on that occasion. This session looks at changing the narrative by regarding as being “accidents” and adopting the principles of accident prevention in identifying the cause and then developing a plan to prevent it from happening again. It is well-recognised that there are certain scenarios in which the risk of experiencing a diagnostic accident is increased and knowing what these are will help you prevent this accident from happening to you and your patients. We also know that it is possible to prevent these accidents from occurring by employing different accident prevention strategies, similar to those used to prevent errors in treatment. This session will introduce you to some of these strategies & interventions.

Webinar Chair

Dr Emma Salik, GP, Faculty Education Lead, RCGP Beds and Herts

Webinar Speaker:

Dr Paul Silverston, Visiting Professor at Anglia Ruskin University & Visiting Professor of Primary Care at The University of Suffolk

Prices

AiT – £50

Member – £75

Non-member – £100

Delegates must sign up to the three sessions separately (Tuesday 1 October, Wednesday 6 November 2024 and Thursday 5 December 2024) to complete the course, however each part can be undertaken as a stand alone session.

Safer consulting | part 1: Managing diagnostic uncertainty safely with safety-netting advice, Tuesday 1 October 2024. Sign up here

Safer consulting | part 3: SAFER Consulting in Babies, Children & Older Patients, Thursday 5 December 2024. Sign up here