Lessons learned for reducing the negative impact of adverse events on patients, health professionals and healthcare organizations.

Purpose: To summarize the knowledge about the aftermath of adverse events (AEs) and develop a recommendation set to reduce their negative impact in patients, health professionals and organizations in contexts where there is no previous experiences and apology laws are not present.

Data Sources: Review studies published between 2000 and 2015, institutional websites and experts' opinions on patient safety.

Study Selection: Studies published and websites on open disclosure, and the second and third victims' phenomenon.

[In case of an adverse event don´t forget to say sorry].

Background: Disclosing information to a patient who is a victim of an adverse event (AE) presents some particularities depending on the legal framework in the country where the AE occurred. The aim of this study is to identify the limits and conditions when apologizing to a patient who has suffered an AE.

Methods: A consensus conference involving 26 professionals from different autonomous communities, institutions, and profiles (health, insurance, inspection, academic) with accredited experience in patient safety management systems and criminal law.

[Proposals for the study of the second victim phenomenon in Spanish Primary Care Centres and Hospitals].

Objective: To identify the Spanish studies conducted since 2014 on second victims. Its main objective was to identify a global response to the second victim problem, assessing the impact of adverse events (AE) on caregivers and developing of a set of tools to reduce their impact.

Method: Descriptive studies in which a sample of managers and safety coordinators from Hospitals and Primary Care were surveyed to determine the activities being carried out as regards second victims, as well as a sample of health professionals to describe their experience as a second victims.