Table 2 Coding unstructured (free-text) data – Patient and clinician examples
Source of incident | Free text | Coding |
|---|---|---|
Patient-reported | ‘I was shocked & outraged to observe that staff with face masks hanging off one ear or under their chin. Totally unprofessional touching their faces with the gloved hands that were worn for whole shift with no use of hand gel or hand washing’ | Incident type: Staff professionalism Contributing factor(s): Staff behaviour and infection control protocols Harm outcome: No outcome described Harm severity: Unclear |
GP-reported | ‘The patient called us for vomiting still bloody, despite our repeated advice to call 15 [emergency services for life-threatening conditions] they did not go. The patient died of a digestive hemorrhage 7 h after the first call. The patient’s daughter was afraid to take her to the hospital for fear that she would catch COVID 19 there’ | Primary incident: Delayed diagnosis Contributing incident: Environmental hazard Contributing factor: Behaviour – patient/family Harm outcome: Clinical deterioration Harm severity: Death |