WILLITON & WATCHET SURGERIES
PATIENT INFORMATION SHEET
Being Open – in the event that the NHS
gets it wrong
BEING OPEN
Each day more than a million people are treated safely in the NHS but occasionally something goes wrong
and a patient is harmed. For example, a doctor may accidentally give someone the wrong type of medicine
or the wrong dose.
Healthcare staff may feel cautious about apologising for things that go wrong as they worry that they might
say the wrong things, make the situation worse and may automatically be blamed for the mistake.
However, patients and their families can cope better if healthcare staff is open about mistakes.
If a mistake seriously harms you, a family member or someone you care for, one of the doctors or nurses
treating you would be expected to apologise and explain clearly what went wrong. They should also tell you
what they will do to stop the problem happening again.
We believe that we need to be able to discuss safety openly with our patients, carers and colleagues, which
is why we are signed up to the national ‘Sign up to Safety initiative’.
A CHANCE TO TALK
Being open will mean that, if a serious mistake has happened, someone involved in your treatment should
ask to arrange a meeting with you to talk about what went wrong. You should be able to choose who
comes to this meeting. It will usually be the doctor or nurse treating you but you can choose some else if
you prefer. You may want to bring a friend or relative along. You can also choose where you want the
meeting to be. You may prefer to talk away from the hospital or surgery.
At the meeting someone from the team treating you should:





say sorry for what happened
explain exactly what went wrong and, where possible, why things went wrong
ask you what you think went wrong and why
tell you what they will do to stop the problem happening again
let you ask any questions
It can sometimes take weeks or months to investigate a problem or serious incident, so it might be that at
the first meeting no one can tell you exactly what went wrong. However, someone should keep you up-todate with how the investigation is going.
FOLLOW UP
After the meeting you should get a letter of apology. This letter will explain how and, if possible, why things
went wrong with your treatment. If this information is not available, you should be told how your case will
be investigated and when you can expect more details. The letter may also say what the hospital or
surgery will do to stop the problem happening again. You may also be offered support from a counsellor.
IMPROVING THE NHS
The NHS can learn from people who have been harmed whilst in their care.
Sharing your experience may help to stop the same mistake happening to someone else. You may feel
anxious about talking through your experience with the people who have been treating you, especially if you
need further treatment, but people who have been harmed by treatment that has gone wrong often say that
they cope much better once they get an apology and understand what went wrong.
FURTHER HELP AND ADVICE
This principle should apply to all NHS hospitals, dental practices and doctors’ surgeries where you receive
your treatment. All NHS organisations have a complaints’ procedure and patients should contact the NHS
organisations who provided the service to resolve the issue locally. Patients can also contact their local
Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS). You can contact this service by phoning your local hospital or
contacting your GP surgery and asking for details of the local PALS Officer.
OUR SIGN UP TO SAFETY PLEDGES
Our five ‘Sign up to Safety’ pledges
1. Putting safety first. The practice is committed to helping reduce avoidable harm in the NHS by half
and making public our locally developed goals and plans.
2. Continually learn. We will aim to make our organisation more resilient to risks by acting on the
feedback from patients and staff and by constantly measuring and monitoring how safe our services
are.
3. Being honest. We are committed to being transparent with people about our progress to tackle patient
safety issues and supporting staff to be candid with patients and their families if something goes wrong.
4. Collaborating. We will take a lead role in supporting local collaborative learning so that improvements
are made across all of the local services that patients use.
5. Being supportive. We will help people to understand why things go wrong and how to put them right.
We will give staff the time and support to improve and celebrate their progress.
West Somerset Healthcare
Williton and Watchet Surgeries
Robert Street
Williton
Somerset TA4 4QE
(01984) 632701
(August 2015)