Accidents and adverse events sometimes occur during the course of providing health and social care services. In Ireland, any service that is a ‘designated centre’ as defined in the Health Act (2007)1 is required to notify the Chief Inspector should certain events occur. These are known as statutory notifications.

There are two categories of statutory notification: those that are required within three days of occurrence and those that are required every three months (quarterly). Three-day notifications generally refer to higher-risk events, such as serious injury or allegations of abuse. Quarterly notifications tend to be notifications about less serious events.

This guidance is aimed at providers and persons in charge of designated centres. The focus is to support providers and persons in charge in dealing with a notifiable event in their settings.