Significant Event Audit (SEA) Template

A structured SEA template that meets CQC requirements, GMC good practice standards, and NHS contractual requirements. Includes learning and action tracking.

## Significant Event Audit Record

**Date of event:**

**Date of SEA meeting:**

**Reported by:**

**Facilitator:**

### 1. Description of What Happened

*Factual, chronological account. Avoid naming individuals.*

### 2. Why Did It Happen? (Root Cause Analysis)

Consider using the '5 Whys' technique. Common root causes:

- Communication breakdown

- Systems/process failure

- Supervision gap

- Training need

- Workload/staffing

### 3. What Went Well?

### 4. What Could Have Been Done Differently?

### 5. Learning Points

Be specific — vague learning points are not useful to inspectors or staff.

### 6. Actions

|--------|-------|----------|-----------|

### 7. Review

**Date action plan reviewed:**

**Outcome:**

### Grading

- Grade A: Extreme risk — immediate action required

- Grade B: High risk — priority action

- Grade C: Moderate risk — action planned

- Grade D: Minimal risk — learning shared

**CQC expect to see evidence of regular SEA meetings, learning shared with the team, and evidence that actions have been completed.**