SAFER: A mnemonic to improve safety-netting advice

Abstract

Paul Silverston describes a mnemonic to help facilitate the development of symptom-based, patient safety-focused, safety-netting advice

In primary care, patients often present during the early stages of an illness, before the findings required to establish the correct diagnosis have developed. This creates the potential for both diagnostic uncertainty and diagnostic error. There is also the possibility that a patient diagnosed with a minor illness may subsequently develop an uncommon but serious complication of that illness. Patients must be made aware of these risks and given advice as to when they should seek a medical re-assessment of their symptoms. This is referred to as safety-netting advice. Patients and relatives need to know the specific symptoms and signs to check for and the criteria that would mandate the need for a re-assessment. It is essential that safety-netting advice is patient-centred and that the medical content of that advice is symptom-based and patient safety-focused. This article describes a mnemonic, SAFER, which can be used to improve the quality of the safety-netting advice given to patients.