Catherine Barton-Sweeney 's first chapter commences with a brief account of how she came to be driven to research the experiences of doctors who have been involved in serious incidents (SIs).

This is followed by a history of patient safety in the National Health Service (NHS). Then, she outlines the aims of her research and provides an explanation of her epistemological and ontological positioning, in order to clarify her methodological choices. 

She provides a brief synopsis of the background of the second victim phenomenon and state how she believes the findings of this study will provide insights for medical clinicians, counselling psychologists and the wider psychology community. 

Catherine then concludes with information about the discontent from some patient groups about the term second victim and explain why she has continued to use it.