ABSTRACT
Significant event analysis (SEA) is the mechanism by which authors look at noteworthy events in our practice lives with the purpose of learning from and celebrating good practice as well as improving suboptimal practice. Experience shows that the great benefit which people derive from SEA is out of proportion to the effort it requires. SEA seems to go by various names: significant event audit, critical event audit or analysis, significant event review. SEA may require the attendance of other employees and protected time will have to be arranged. When authors have more experience with SEA, approach is to keep a record of significant events when they occur, and categorise them according to the area of activity into which they fall. They can audit our service systematically by choosing an area and analysing the event associated with it. This approach is sometimes called significant event audit. Examples of these areas are: clinical: preventive, acute and chronic; organisational.
