Background: Critical incident reporting is a key tool in the promotion of patient safety in anaesthesia.
Methods: We surveyed representatives of national incident reporting systems in six European countries, inviting information on scope and organization, and intelligence on factors determining success and failure.
Results: Some systems are government-run and nationally conceived; others started out as small, specialty-focused initiatives, which have since acquired a national reach. However, both national co-ordination and specialty enthusiasts seem to be necessary for an optimally functioning system. The role of reporting culture, definitional issues, and dissemination is discussed.
Conclusions: We make recommendations for others intending to start new systems and speculate on the prospects for sharing patient safety lessons relevant to anaesthesia at European level.
Keywords: anaesthesia; clinical audit; critical incident technique; incident reporting, hospital; patient safety.