How do you report incidents and sentinel events to GAHAR?

QPI.06 asks for an incident reporting system with a list of reportable events, a process for who reports and investigates, classification and analysis, and support for affected patients and staff. QPI.07 asks that every sentinel event reaches GAHAR within 48 hours of the event or of becoming aware of it, with a root cause analysis and corrective plan inside 45 days.

What counts, and how fast

A sentinel event is an unexpected occurrence involving death or serious physical or psychological injury, and QPI.07 lists unexpected death or major permanent loss of function, wrong patient, site or procedure, suicide or attempted suicide with death or permanent loss of function, any post-partum maternal death and certain perinatal deaths.¹ The facility emails GAHAR at Sentinel.Event@gahar.gov.eg within 48 hours and sends the root cause analysis with a corrective plan no later than 45 days after the event or its notification.¹ An unreported sentinel event, or a late analysis, can suspend accreditation.¹

The incident reporting system

QPI.06 asks for a list of reportable incidents, near misses, adverse events and sentinel events, a process for how, when and by whom they are reported and investigated, the incidents that need immediate notice to management, classification and analysis, and when to run an intensive analysis.¹ All staff, contracted and outsourced services included, must know the system, incidents must be investigated and corrected within the defined timeframe, and the 2025 edition adds support for affected patients and for staff.¹² Provisional accreditation applies the same 48-hour and 45-day clocks.³

1. Make the patient safe. Act on the immediate risk and tell the facility director.
2. Confirm it is a sentinel event. Check it against the definition and the list in your QPI.07 policy.
3. Email GAHAR within 48 hours. Send the notification to Sentinel.Event@gahar.gov.eg, counting from the event or from becoming aware of it.
4. Preserve the record. Keep the notes, the audit trail and the staff on duty, with times.
5. Run the root cause analysis. Involve the team, find the system gaps, and write the corrective action plan.
6. Submit inside 45 days. Send the analysis and plan to GAHAR, then track every action to closure.

1. Facility ______ Accreditation number ______
2. Date and time of event ______ Date and time aware ______
3. Category from the QPI.07 list ______
4. Patient identifiers, kept to the minimum ______
5. Immediate actions taken ______
6. Notified to GAHAR on ______ By ______
7. Root cause analysis due by, 45 days ______ Lead ______

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Questions

How fast must a sentinel event reach GAHAR?

Within 48 hours of the event or of becoming aware of it, by email to Sentinel.Event@gahar.gov.eg.

When is the root cause analysis due?

No later than 45 days from the event or its notification, with the corrective plan to prevent or reduce recurrence.

Do contracted services need to know the incident system?

Yes, QPI.06 asks that all staff, including contracted and outsourced services, are aware of the incident reporting system.

What changed for incidents in 2025?

QPI.06 added support for staff affected by adverse events, and the sentinel event standard, QPI.10 in 2021, is QPI.07 in 2025.

Sources

1. 1General Authority for Healthcare Accreditation and Regulation (GAHAR), 2025GAHAR Handbook for Primary Healthcare Accreditation Standards, 2025, second editionRead source
2. 2General Authority for Healthcare Accreditation and Regulation (GAHAR), 2025GAHAR PHC Accreditation Standards 2025, list of amendments from the 2021 editionRead source
3. 3General Authority for Healthcare Accreditation and Regulation (GAHAR), 2025GAHAR Handbook for Primary Healthcare Provisional Accreditation Standards, 2025Read source

Written by the wai team from General Authority for Healthcare Accreditation and Regulation guidance, checked on 16 October 2026. This is guidance, not legal advice. GAHAR does not endorse wai or any software.