What we are doing
After three successful years, the National Mortality Case Record Review Programme (NMCRR) ended on 30 June 2019, leaving a long-lasting legacy in patient safety.
For information on the RCP’s current patient safety workstream please visit the Patient Safety pages.
About the programme
The NMCRR Programme was awarded to the RCP in February 2016. It was funded by NHS Improvement and the Scottish Government, and commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP). The aims of the programme were to:
- implement a standardised methodology to review care received by patients who had died
- improve learning and understanding about problems and processes in healthcare associated with mortality, and to share best practice.
What the programme achieved
The NMCRR developed the Structured Judgement Review (SJR) process to effectively review care received by patients who had died. The SJR replaced variable local systems with a standardised, national, evidence-based method.
The SJR was implemented in over 120 acute NHS trusts in England and in a number of hospitals in Scotland. Over 600 healthcare professionals were trained directly by the NMCRR team as tier one trainers. These tier one trainers in turn trained thousands of clinicians throughout the NHS in England and Scotland to become hospital mortality reviewers.
Implementation of the SJR made positive contributions to improving healthcare for patients and demonstrated that quality improvements were possible as a result.
