Action/consequence risk poster

A National Health Service poster shared in 2026 turns risk planning into a simple grid: pick an action, then spell out its likely consequences. (fabnhsstuff.net) The poster was published on Fab NHS Stuff under the title “Facilitation of Complex Clinical Risk Decision-Making using the Action/Consequences Model in a Home Treatment Plan,” with a page date of May 2, 2025 and an update date of March 19, 2026. Fab NHS Stuff categorized it under patient safety, quality improvement, service innovation, community services, and patient empowerment. (fabnhsstuff.net) The underlying model comes from mental health nursing literature by Dan Warrender of Robert Gordon University. His paper describes the tool as a prompt for “thinking and ethical decision making around risk,” not a fixed rulebook, and says consequences are potential rather than definite. (researchgate.net) In plain terms, the model asks clinicians to stop talking about “risk” as an abstract label and instead compare concrete choices. One side of the spectrum is containing risk with more restrictive interventions; the other is tolerating more risk to preserve autonomy, with each option carrying different effects for the patient and the care team. (researchgate.net) That approach fits with how the National Health Service says care plans should work. NHS England says personalised care and support planning should be built through facilitated conversations, include the person or family, and record decisions in a form that makes sense to the person. (england.nhs.uk) It also lines up with treatment-escalation planning in home-based services. NHS Lothian’s Hospital at Home information says a Treatment Escalation Plan is created with the patient, reviewed regularly, and can cover decisions on antibiotics, intravenous fluids, scans, admission, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. (policyonline.nhslothian.scot) Home treatment teams make those choices outside hospital walls, often during deterioration or crisis. The Royal College of Psychiatrists says crisis resolution and home treatment services provide intensive treatment at home as an alternative to hospital admission and are central to the acute mental health care pathway. (rcpsych.ac.uk) Treatment-escalation guidance in Scotland makes the same tradeoff explicit. The Right Decisions toolkit says “doing everything possible” can sometimes increase suffering without gain, and says plans should be based on personalised goals rather than “one size fits all” treatment. (rightdecisions.scot.nhs.uk) The poster’s value is practical rather than theoretical: it gives staff, patients, and relatives a shared language for hard calls that are usually made under pressure. In services where one choice can mean hospital transfer, forced containment, or more independence at home, putting actions beside consequences makes the tradeoff visible before the crisis arrives. (fabnhsstuff.net)