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CIRS (Critical Incident Reporting)

In one sentence: Staff report critical incidents and near misses anonymously, so the organisation can learn from them without blaming anyone. Menu: Reporting module → tab CIRS · Status: Live

What it is

CIRS stands for "Critical Incident Reporting System". It is for events where something went wrong or nearly went wrong, for example a mix-up of two patients' samples that was caught just in time.

The goal is learning, not blame. That is why every CIRS report is anonymous: nobody, not even the officer, sees who wrote it.

A CIRS report is first checked by the CIRS Officer in the column To Be Approved. Only after approval does the rest of the unit see it. The officer then plans and tracks measures, and can share the case with the outside network CIRRNET or with an external reporting office.

This page adds the CIRS details to the general Incident Reports page.

Key terms

Term Meaning
Near miss An error that was caught before it caused harm. Also reported in CIRS.
To Be Approved First column. Only the officer and a few roles see reports here (see below).
Approve Moving a report from To Be Approved to To Do. After that, the unit can see it (depending on the visibility setting).
Visibility of CIRS Reports Unit setting: All (all staff of the unit see approved reports) or Management & CIRS officers.
Copy Makes a new version of a report. The old version is switched to inactive.
CIRRNET An external network where organisations share anonymous incident reports. A unit can forward approved CIRS reports to it.
External reporting office An outside contact set up for the organisation who receives approved CIRS reports by email.

Who uses it

Role What they typically do here
Professional, Management Report incidents and read approved reports to learn from them. At Unit without insight level, Management also processes and deactivates reports.
Power User Appoints the unit's CIRS Officer (unit levels), processes the CIRS reports of the own unit and, at Unit without insight level, chooses the level and the visibility.
Administrator, Group Administrator Switch CIRS on, choose the level (organisation level and unit with insight) and appoint the officer at organisation level.
CIRS Officer Checks new reports in To Be Approved, approves them, plans measures and can share cases with CIRRNET or the external reporting office.

How it works

Status: Will be added later.

How to …

Status: Will be added later.

Rules to know

Status: Will be added later.

Who can do what

Legend: ✅ allowed · ❌ not allowed · text = condition · Org = Organizational · Unit+ = Unit with insight · Unit− = Unit without insight.

Action RiQS Administrator Group Administrator Administrator Power User Management Professional CIRS Officer
Switch CIRS on ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
Choose the level and the Visibility of CIRS Reports ✅ Org, Unit+ Org, Unit+ Unit− ❌ ❌ ❌
Appoint / change the CIRS Officer ✅ Org Org Unit+, Unit− ❌ ❌ ❌
Enter the external reporting office email ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ Org
Set up CIRRNET ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌
Create a CIRS report ❌ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅
See the To Be Approved column of the own unit ✅ Org, Unit+ Org, Unit+ ✅ ❌ ❌ ✅
See CIRS reports of all units of the organisation (incl. To Be Approved) ✅ Org, Unit+ Org, Unit+ ❌ ❌ ❌ Org, Unit+
See approved, active reports of the own unit ✅ Org, Unit+ Org, Unit+ ✅ ✅ Only if visibility is All ✅
Process: edit, approve, move, copy, To-Do, guide, CIRRNET ❌ Org Org ✅ Unit− ❌ ✅
Deactivate / reactivate ❌ Org Org Unit− Unit− ❌ ✅
See inactive reports ✅ Org, Unit+ Org, Unit+ ✅ ✅ ❌ ✅
Download the overview ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌ ✅
Delete a report (normal version) ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
Delete a report (audit-safe mode) ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌

Connected modules

Open questions

  • Rights sheet vs feature list. The Roles & Rights sheet (used on this page) and the feature list disagree on CIRS in several places. Please confirm the sheet is right:
  • Choosing the level and visibility at Unit without insight: the sheet says RiQS Administrator and Power User; the feature list says RiQS Administrator, Group Administrator and Administrator.
  • To Be Approved at Unit without insight: the sheet hides it from Management; the feature list shows it to Management.
  • Processing: the sheet lets the Power User process at Organizational level and Management at Unit without insight level; the feature list does not.
  • Deactivating: the sheet gives it to the officer only at Unit with insight, and to officer, Power User and Management at Unit without insight; the feature list gives it to the RiQS Administrator, officer and Power User at both unit levels (and to the RiQS Administrator at organisation level too).
  • Download at Unit without insight: the sheet allows Group Administrators and Administrators; the feature list does not.
  • Officer at "Unit with insight" level. The sheet lets the CIRS Officer see and edit the CIRS reports of all units of the organisation, also at Unit with insight level. Is that intended for a unit-level officer?

Last reviewed: 2026-10-27