Safety Learning Culture

Our Safety Culture

At The Vesey, safety is not a compliance exercise — it is a cultural commitment. We have created an environment where every member of the clinical and administrative team feels empowered and safe to raise concerns, report incidents, and contribute to continuous improvement. Learning from what goes wrong — and from near misses — is treated as an organisational strength, not a cause for blame.

Incident Reporting and Learning

All incidents, adverse events, near misses, and patient safety concerns are recorded using our incident reporting system. The Registered Manager reviews all reported incidents within 48 hours. Incidents are classified by severity and type, and all significant incidents trigger a formal root cause analysis with documented findings and corrective actions. Learning from incidents is shared with all staff at team meetings and through individual supervision sessions, and changes to practice are documented with evidence of implementation.

• Incident register: maintained and reviewed at every governance meeting
• Near-miss reporting: actively encouraged; reported through the same system as incidents with no blame culture
• Root cause analysis: conducted for all serious incidents; findings and actions documented within 14 days
• Action completion: tracked through the governance action log with RAG status at each meeting
• Patient safety alerts: MHRA, NHS England, and CQC alerts reviewed within 48 hours of receipt; action documented and evidenced

Duty of Candour — Regulation 20

The Vesey fully complies with the statutory Duty of Candour (CQC Regulation 20). When a notifiable safety incident occurs, we notify the patient (or their representative) as soon as reasonably practicable after the incident, provide a truthful account of what happened, offer a sincere apology, and explain what we are doing to prevent recurrence. All duty of candour conversations are documented, and a written summary is provided to the patient. Records of all duty of candour events are retained.

Patient Safety Alerts and National Guidance

We are registered to receive NHS England National Patient Safety Alerts, MHRA medical device and drug safety alerts, and CQC notifications. All alerts are reviewed by the Registered Manager and Lead Clinician within 48 hours. Where an alert is directly relevant to our clinical services, an action plan is produced, implemented, and evidenced within the required timeframe. A log of all received alerts and their actions is maintained.

Named Patient Safety Lead

The Registered Manager, Ben Royal, is the named Patient Safety Lead for The Vesey. Responsibilities include reviewing all incident reports, chairing safety debriefs after significant events, ensuring patient safety alert actions are completed, and reporting safety performance to the Clinical Governance Committee quarterly. The Lead Clinician acts as deputy when the Registered Manager is absent.