Validation of an adaptation of the ICPS framework for classifying adverse events

The Danish National Board of Health has adapted the World Health Organization´s International Classification for Patient Safety (ICPS) for classifying incidents reported to the national Danish Patient Safety Database (DPSD). Originally launched in January 2004, this was the first nationwide, mandatory and non-punitive incident reporting scheme in healthcare, and was explicitly defined to support learning from incidents.

The number of reports received by the system has grown from 5,000 in 2004 to 34,000 in 2010. The update of the Danish system will include reporting not only from hospital staff, but also from the primary sector, clinics and nursing homes, and, later, patients and their relatives. In this paper we review some characteristics of the Danish incident reporting system and considerations before and following a validation of a pilot version in 2010