The RCA training will help you understand the policy and legislative requirements of undertaking a Root Cause Analysis, and develop skills in conducting the RCA process.

Conducted as two, 3-hour sessions, the course will take you through all the steps to conduct an RCA for severe harm and frequent clinical incidents. It will introduce you to systems thinking and focus on improving and redesigning systems and processes to prevent harm to future patients. A key aspect to be explored will be the relationship between the system of care and individual human performance to improve the effectiveness of recommendations.
Key outcomes
- Understand how Root Cause Analysis links with Clinical Incident Management and Quality Improvement as per the Clinical Governance Framework and Standard 1 NSQHS second edition
- Understand the policy and legislative requirements of undertaking a Root Cause Analysis
- Have a practical understanding of the steps of the RCA process
- Develop skills in conducting staff interviews to identify the sources of clinical process failure
- Be able to develop recommendations which provide strong evidence of effectiveness including how to distinguish between special and common cause variation
- Learn the methodology of plan, do, study, act (PDSA) cycles as a core technique for testing recommendations
- Be able to formulate an implementation plan to ensure recommendations drive continuous improvement in patient quality and safety.
Who should attend
Health care professionals including:
- clinical managers and medical heads of departments
- surgical and procedural team leaders
- directors of patient safety
- patient safety officers
- frontline clinicians who provide care and services to patients