NHS & healthcare organisations | Independent support
NHS investigations & patient safety support Independent insight. Meaningful learning.
When a patient safety incident or serious clinical concern needs independent attention, the response matters. Delphi supports NHS and healthcare teams with sensitive investigations, clinical reviews and practical guidance to help leaders understand what happened and what needs to improve.
Evidence. People. Improvement.
Support for NHS trusts, NHS-funded services and other regulated healthcare organisations in England, subject to the agreed remit.
Understand our PSIRF approachWhen specialist support is needed
Difficult questions deserve a careful, independent response.
We understand the competing demands on patient safety teams, clinical leaders, safeguarding professionals and senior NHS managers.
A patient safety incident
A proportionate response is needed to understand contributory factors and identify learning.
Complex clinical questions
A record-based clinical review or specialist independent opinion would help clarify the facts.
Safeguarding concerns
Allegations, sensitive events or serious concerns call for objective scrutiny and a clear remit.
Culture or speaking-up issues
Whistleblowing concerns and indicators of closed cultures require careful, appropriate review.
Need an independent clinical or investigative perspective for a sensitive matter?
Talk to our teamSpecialist NHS & healthcare support
The right review for the situation in front of you.
Different issues need different approaches. We work with your organisation to establish an appropriate brief, expertise and process.
PSIRF learning responses
Independent input for patient safety incident investigations and other system-based learning responses, informed by your organisation’s PSIRF plan and agreed priorities.
Independent clinical reviews
Structured review of clinical records, care decisions, risk assessments and relevant evidence to support informed organisational decisions.
Safeguarding investigations
Independent fact-finding, specialist review and recommendations where safeguarding or regulatory concerns require an external perspective.
Deaths in detention or custody
Clinical and evidential review support where commissioned, with scope defined around the applicable legal, coronial and statutory investigation processes.
Closed culture & whistleblowing
Impartial reviews of concerns about practice, staff voice and organisational culture, with appropriate safeguards and terms of reference.
Service & governance reviews
Look beyond individual events to examine systems, leadership, recurring themes and opportunities for more reliable oversight.
Patient Safety Incident Response Framework
PSIRF is about learning, not simply investigation.
The Patient Safety Incident Response Framework is NHS England’s approach to responding to patient safety incidents for learning and improvement. It replaced the former Serious Incident Framework classification and supports responses proportionate to the safety issue.
Our approach is informed by the national principles and the relevant organisation’s policy and incident response plan. The response might involve a patient safety incident investigation, a thematic review or another suitable learning method.
Read the official NHS England frameworkCompassionate involvement
Listen to and involve patients, families and staff affected by an incident.
Systems-based thinking
Understand how systems and circumstances contribute to safety outcomes.
Appropriate response
Match the learning response to the nature of the safety concern.
Supportive oversight
Connect findings, governance and action so learning can lead to change.
When the issue is sensitive, the response must be credible.
Delphi can discuss independent expertise, proportionate review methods and a clearly defined remit for your patient safety or healthcare investigation.
Independence begins with the terms of reference.
The right reviewer, defined questions, proportionate methods and appropriate information governance help make findings useful and defensible.
How an engagement works
A structured process, handled with care.
Each commission is different. We agree what is being reviewed, who needs to be involved, how evidence will be handled and how findings should be reported.
Define the remit
Agree objectives, terms of reference, independence, boundaries and intended outputs.
Review the evidence
Analyse relevant records, timelines, interviews and clinical material using suitable methods.
Reach balanced findings
Identify supported facts, contributory factors, uncertainties and relevant learning.
Support improvement
Present findings and proportionate recommendations, with follow-up scoped if requested.
Experience and methodology
Clinical knowledge. A genuinely independent view.
Delphi draws on experience spanning NHS commissioning, clinical practice, care management and regulatory inspection. Specialist expertise, clinical competence and any required independence should be matched to each commission.
We focus on clarity of method, respectful engagement with people affected by serious events and careful separation of facts, analysis and recommendations.
Explore Delphi’s established work on unexpected deaths, clinical evidence and serious healthcare incidents, then discuss the support appropriate to your case.
View investigations expertiseA reliable account of relevant events, records and evidence, including remaining uncertainties.
Understanding of clinical decisions, contributory factors and relevant system conditions.
Findings and recommendations that leaders can evaluate and connect to improvement.
Helpful resources
Reference the right guidance before deciding the response.
Official NHS England documents should guide local PSIRF policy and practice. Delphi’s service information explains where independent support may fit.
NHS England / January 2026
Patient safety incident response standards
The current national expectations on planning, capacity, engagement, learning responses and oversight.
Read the standardsNHS England / Learning methods
Patient safety learning response toolkit
System-based methods and resources that support proportionate patient safety learning responses.
Explore the toolkitDelphi / Specialist service
Independent healthcare investigations
See Delphi’s approach to sensitive investigations and how an independent clinical perspective can assist.
Explore Delphi’s supportFrequently asked questions
Clear answers for complex healthcare concerns.
Understanding the distinction between patient safety learning responses, independent clinical reviews and statutory investigations helps organisations commission the right support.
Discuss your requirementsWhat is PSIRF?
PSIRF is NHS England’s Patient Safety Incident Response Framework. It sets out an approach to learning from patient safety incidents through compassionate engagement, system-based learning, proportionate responses and supportive oversight for improvement.
Does every patient safety incident require a formal investigation?
No. PSIRF supports a range of proportionate learning responses guided by the provider’s incident response policy and plan. A full patient safety incident investigation is appropriate in some cases, while other situations may call for a different learning method.
Can Delphi undertake an independent NHS investigation?
Delphi can discuss independent healthcare investigation and clinical review commissions. The work, specialist competence, independence arrangements and terms of reference must be agreed for the particular case.
What about deaths in custody or detention?
Specialist clinical and evidential review may be relevant, but such cases can involve coronial, statutory or other legal investigation requirements. Any Delphi role would need to be scoped alongside those processes and could not replace them.
Can Delphi help with safeguarding or whistleblowing concerns?
Delphi can discuss independent safeguarding, organisational culture or whistleblowing-related reviews, subject to an agreed remit and appropriate safeguards. These activities are not automatically PSIRF learning responses and may require separate statutory or employment processes.
How will confidential patient information be handled?
Before any identifiable information is shared, the commissioning organisation and Delphi should agree suitable secure transfer methods, permissions, information governance and any required contractual or data protection arrangements. Please do not submit patient-identifiable information through the general enquiry form.
What happens after we contact Delphi?
We discuss the service, the type of concern, relevant timelines and the expertise needed. We can then explore a scope of work, independence requirements and next steps without assuming a predetermined finding.
Start with a confidential scoping conversation
Sensitive issues deserve careful, credible support.
Whether you need an independent review, support interpreting a patient safety concern or additional clinical expertise, share the broad circumstances and we will discuss an appropriate next step.
What kind of review would help?
Tell us the healthcare setting, broad concern and timescales. Please do not include names, patient identifiers, clinical records or confidential case documents in the initial enquiry.
Discuss NHS investigation support 0330 133 3002Prefer email? enquiries@delphi.care
Delphi Care Solutions provides independent healthcare consultancy and investigation support according to the agreed remit. PSIRF learning responses, statutory inquiries, safeguarding procedures, coronial processes and employment investigations can have different requirements. No investigation finding or regulatory outcome is guaranteed. Do not send patient-identifiable information via a general contact form.
