No matter how safe we try to make our services, accident and incidents will occur.
What the CQC expects is that when accidents or incidents happen, our response and subsequent actions helps to mitigate any unnecessary reoccurrence.
Openness and transparency around safety is key. Your staff should be capable and confident in their roles to raise concerns and report incidents, including near misses.
Your managers and leaders should set the standard, taking ownership of any accidents and incidents, but empowering your staff team to implement any changes that might be needed.
Your reviews of accident and incidents should be thorough, often involving managers, staff and, where possible, the people you support. On occasions, you may need to involve external expertise and other agencies too.
Each accident and incident is an opportunity to learn from mistakes and further strengthen your service.
In preparation for inspection, the CQC will be looking at any notifications, RIDDOR or HSE reports that have been submitted.
They’ll also be planning to interview a number of people as part of the inspection. Be prepared to share examples of what you have done to improve safety.
During their inspection, the CQC may request to see a number of different documents including:
- complaints and compliments
- Incident and ‘near miss’ policies and records, including alerts, investigations, outcomes and improvement plans.
To learn more about how you can meet this area of CQC inspection, take a look at GO Online.
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