Quality Assurance

The NHS AAA Screening Programme has developed Failsafe processes as a back-up mechanism in addition to usual care.

These ensure that if something goes wrong in the screening pathway, processes are in place to:

• Identify what is going wrong 
• What action follows to ensure a safe outcome

The Failsafe document, which can be downloaded as a pdf below, describes the failsafe processes which sit alongside the Programme's Map of Medicine care pathway.

Management of serious incidents

Local screening programmes are subject to robust quality assurance processes, both internal and external, but problems and incidents can still arise and these need to be identified and managed so that any harm is minimised.

Generic guidance and resources for reporting and managing serious incidents within national screening programmes can be found on the UK Screening Portal website. This includes the UK National Screening Committee's guidance document on managing serious incidents in English NHS National Screening Programmes.