Two reviews that do different jobs
CIRs and SIRs are two of the review records that sit inside the NDTMS treatment journey, and they are routinely confused because the acronyms look similar. They measure different things and are triggered by different events, so it is worth being precise about each.
In short: a Client Information Review (CIR) is about the client's overall situation and treatment progress, while a Sub Intervention Review (SIR) is about a specific intervention the client is receiving. Getting the two right is what keeps a client's NDTMS record coherent from start to discharge.
Client Information Reviews (CIRs)
A CIR is a periodic review of the client's circumstances and progress through treatment. It is the point at which the service steps back from day-to-day contact and records where the client is against their treatment goals, alongside changes in their wider situation such as housing, health, or safeguarding concerns.
Because a CIR captures the whole picture rather than a single activity, it is closely tied to review TOPs and to the client's care plan. A well-run review point usually produces the CIR, an updated care plan, and a review TOP together, because they draw on the same conversation with the client.
Sub Intervention Reviews (SIRs)
A SIR is recorded against a specific intervention within the client's episode — for example a structured psychosocial intervention or a prescribing intervention. Where an episode contains more than one intervention, each can carry its own reviews, and the SIR is how progress on that particular strand is captured.
This is exactly where records go wrong. Because a SIR must attach to the correct intervention, it is easy to log a review against the wrong strand, or to leave a SIR incomplete when an intervention ends. Both create validation problems later and make the client's treatment history harder to read.
How CIRs and SIRs are commonly confused
The most frequent mistakes we see when supporting services are straightforward once named:
- Recording a client-level update as a SIR when it should be a CIR, or vice versa.
- Attaching a SIR to the wrong intervention where a client has more than one running.
- Leaving a SIR open after the related intervention has ended.
- Completing a CIR but not the review TOP that should accompany it, so the review point looks incomplete in the data.
Keeping reviews aligned across the episode
The reliable way to keep CIRs and SIRs correct is to make the system model the relationship for you: interventions live inside an episode, SIRs attach to a named intervention, and CIRs sit at client level with the care plan and review TOP. When the structure is enforced, a keyworker cannot easily file a review in the wrong place.
GreenShoots links reviews to the right level automatically — SIRs to their intervention, CIRs to the client and care plan — and flags reviews that are due or incomplete before a submission. That does not replace clinical judgement about what to record; it removes the structural errors that cause most NDTMS review problems.