Post Mortem HTA Reportable Incidents (HTARIs)
We require establishments licensed in the Post Mortem sector to notify the HTA of serious incidents and near-miss incidents that may affect the dignity of the deceased and damage public confidence. Establishments must notify the HTA of incidents or near-miss incidents within five working days of the incident occurring or being discovered.
Incidents that are required to be reported to the HTA are termed ‘HTA Reportable Incidents’ (HTARIs). The HTARI guidance document provides information on the categories of HTARIs and near-miss incidents that must be reported to the HTA.
Please do not include any person identifiable details (such as names or photographs of patients or staff) in information submitted to the HTA.
Submitting a HTARI notification
Designated Individuals are responsible for ensuring the HTA is notified of incidents in areas covered by the HTA licence.
The Designated Individual or a Persons Designated on the licence should submit notification of an incident or near-miss incident to the HTA through the HTA Portal. You should ensure you have a HTA Portal account set up, in advance of needing to report an incident.
Notifications must be submitted to the HTA within five working days of the incident occurring or being discovered. Establishments must not wait until any internal review or investigation is complete before reporting the incident to the HTA
Follow-up investigation reports
We require establishments to submit a follow-up investigation report to the HTA for review. This should be submitted within two months of the incident being reported.
The report must be submitted to the HTA through the HTA Portal.
Further information
We recognise that incidents can be distressing for the families affected, as well as for the staff involved. When an incident occurs, we aim to support establishments in their review of the circumstances of the incident and the actions taken to help to mitigate the risk of an incident of a similar nature occurring in the future.
We review information received from HTARI notifications and follow-up investigation reports to identify and share lessons that can be learned about how things can go wrong and what can be done to help mitigate the risks of incidents occurring. We regularly publish learning and guidance reports.
Information on disclosing information about incidents is available on our website.
Please contact us if you require advice on reporting HTARIs to the HTA.