Being open and honest - saying sorry when things go wrong
Every year we care for thousands of people safely in Stockport, Tameside and Glossop and the High Peak. Occasionally something may go wrong and a patient or service user is harmed whilst under our care. We take these incidents very seriously and will say sorry when things go wrong.
Patient and Customer Liaison Services department
Our Patient and Customer Liaison Services department can be contacted on 0161 419 5678. We are open Monday to Friday, 10.30am to 3.30pm.
We have a Being Open Policy and a Duty of Candour which means that we will tell patients if their safety has been compromised. We will apologise and ensure lessons are learned and actions are put in place to prevent them from happening again.
A chance to talk
Being open means that we will:
- Say sorry for what happened
- Explain exactly what went wrong and, where possible, why things went wrong
- Ask what you think went wrong and why
- Tell you what we will do to stop the problem happening again
- Answer any questions you may have
A member of our Trust staff will meet with you to talk about what went wrong. This will usually be the doctor or nurse treating you, but you can choose to speak to someone else if you would prefer. You may also want a friend or relative to attend.
In some cases it can take a number of weeks to investigate a problem, so it might be that at the first meeting we won`t be able to tell you exactly what went wrong. If this information isn`t available to you immediately, you should be informed how your case will be investigated and when you can expect more details. You will be given contact details for a relevant member of staff who will be able to answer any queries you may have in the meantime.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council
The Nursing and Midwifery Council was set up by Parliament to protect the public by ensuring that nurses and midwives provide high standards of care to their patients and clients. A leaflet for patients, carers and the public called Raising concerns about a nurse or midwife explains the Nursing and Midwifery Councils role and how patients, carers and the public can raise a concern about a nurse or midwife.
Improving the NHS
We can learn from people who have been harmed whilst in our care. Sharing your experience may help stop the same mistake happening to someone else. People who have been harmed by treatment that has gone wrong often say that they cope much better once they receive an apology and understand what went wrong.
Sharing your experience
If you would like to share your experience, Patient Opinion is an independent website where you can leave feedback, good or bad, to help us improve our services.
Get more information
If you would like to know more about how we deal with mistakes, please ask one of the people treating you.
Alternatively, you may wish to contact our Patient and Customer Services department on 0161 419 5678. We are open Monday to Friday, 10.30am to 3.30pm or use the email form on our contact us page.
Our patient and customer services team provides a free, confidential service to represent the views of patients, service users, carers, relatives or friends who may need advice, information, support or guidance with a particular issue. We can also advise you of other organisations that can help you.
This information can be made available in other formats (for example, Braille) or languages on request.
Useful links