Incident reporting is widely recognised as an important method for improving safety in healthcare, and many countries have established their own incident reporting systems.1 However, the actual value of these systems is increasingly subject to debate.2 Reporting systems, both local and national, are overwhelmed by the volume of reports and fall short in defining recommendations for improving healthcare safety: ‘We collect too much and do too little’.3 To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details.