PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - A Sheikh
AU  - B Hurwitz
TI  - Setting up a database of medical error in general practice: conceptual and methodological considerations.
DP  - 2001 Jan 01
TA  - British Journal of General Practice
PG  - 57--60
VI  - 51
IP  - 462
4099  - http://bjgp.org/content/51/462/57.short
4100  - http://bjgp.org/content/51/462/57.full
SO  - Br J Gen Pract2001 Jan 01; 51
AB  - Though common and the cause of much morbidity and health cost, medical error has until recently attracted little attention from primary care workers. A database that logs medical error, operating within the context of clinical governance initiatives at the level of Primary Care Groups, could provide an appropriate framework within which to scrutinise and identify systematic organisational features associated with risk of serious adverse events. This paper discusses some of the key conceptual and methodological issues that need to be resolved before such a database can be implemented in general practice and considers these deliberations in the light of the Chief Medical Officer for England's recent report, An organisation with a memory.