How the system is classified
Type: Clinical decision support information system (non-deterministic, non-prescriptive).
DCB0129 alignment
How clinical risk is managed through CliniSearch.
Boring, precise, and inspectable — written in NHS Digital clinical safety language.
How DCB0129 requirements are met
How CliniSearch supports decisions
- Presents national guidance
- Makes provenance and currency explicit
- Highlights change and supersession
How clinical judgement is protected
- Does not generate diagnoses
- Does not mandate actions
- Does not override local policy
- Does not automate clinical decisions
Critical distinction: Supports decisions, does not make them.
How guidance currency risks are managed
DCB0129 concept
Clinical risk from incorrect, incomplete, or outdated information.
CliniSearch mitigations
- Automated update tracking of national guidance
- Superseded guidance flagging
- Visible last-checked / last-updated timestamps
- Recommendation-level change detection
Safety case wording
“The system mitigates the hazard of clinicians relying on outdated national guidance by providing explicit visibility of update status and supersession.”
Risk theme: misinterpretation of guidance
DCB0129 concept
Risk introduced by ambiguity or poor presentation of clinical information.
CliniSearch mitigations
- Structured recommendations instead of narrative PDFs
- Decision-type tagging (diagnosis / referral / escalation)
- Threshold extraction with units and context
- Urgency classification (routine / urgent / time-critical)
Safety case wording
“The system reduces misinterpretation by presenting guidance in a structured, role-appropriate format while preserving source attribution.”
Risk theme: inappropriate reliance
DCB0129 concept
Over-reliance on digital systems instead of clinical judgement.
CliniSearch controls
- Explicit source attribution on all recommendations
- No automated decision outputs
- Clear separation between national guidance and local policy
- No default recommendations without context
Safety case wording
“The system is designed to support, not replace, clinical decision-making and does not provide deterministic outputs.”
Risk theme: hindsight bias in incident review
DCB0129 concept
Risk of unfair or inaccurate learning due to lack of contemporaneous evidence.
CliniSearch mitigations
- Historical guideline versioning
- Date-specific guidance views
- Version-locked exports for audits and reviews
Safety case wording
“The system supports fair incident review by enabling access to the version of guidance that was current at the time of care.”
Hazard log alignment
| Hazard | Cause | Mitigation | Residual risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Use of outdated guidance | PDF bookmarks, static intranet copies | Update tracking, supersession flags | Reduced |
| Missed escalation thresholds | Narrative text, cognitive overload | Structured thresholds, urgency tagging | Reduced |
| Misattribution of guidance | Unclear sources | Explicit NICE / body attribution | Reduced |
| Hindsight bias in review | No record of historical guidance | Versioned views | Reduced |
Roles & responsibilities
Supplier responsibilities
- Maintain update monitoring processes
- Clearly communicate system limitations
- Provide transparent provenance and metadata
Deploying organisation responsibilities
- Appoint a Clinical Safety Officer (CSO)
- Ensure local policy alignment
- Include the system in local safety governance
Suggested wording
“Clinical safety remains the responsibility of the deploying organisation, supported by the system’s transparency and auditability.”
QS checklist → DCB0129 mapping
| QS Area | DCB0129 Concept |
|---|---|
| S1 Safe systems | Hazard identification & mitigation |
| S3 Learning culture | Safety learning & feedback |
| E1 Evidence-based care | Information correctness |
| R2 Responsiveness | Change management |
| W1 Governance | Safety assurance |
| W3 Information governance | Data provenance & integrity |
Strategic insight
DCB0129 is not about proving you are safe; it is about proving you understand and manage risk. CliniSearch makes knowledge risk explicit, change traceable, and learning fair — exactly what a competent clinical safety case demonstrates.
Related clinical discussions
Safety, audit, and the CliniSearch proxy
Controls and audit signals to manage digital risk.
How often NICE guidance actually changes
Change frequency to inform risk controls and review cycles.
Thresholds change more often than policies
Risk of outdated thresholds in decision-making.