Duty of Candour
Background
All health and social care services in Scotland have a duty of candour as an organisation. This is a legal requirement which means that when unintended or unexpected events happen that result in death or harm as defined in the Act, the people affected understand what has happened, receive an apology and organisations learn how to improve for the future.
An important part of this duty is that we provide an annual report about how the duty of candour is implemented in our services. This short report describes how Edge Group Scotland Ltd. has operated the duty of candour during the time between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023. We hope you find this report useful.
About Edge Group Scotland
Edge Group Scotland is the only additional support needs [ASN] social care provider in the U.K. with their own adaptive stand-up paddleboard school. We work exclusively with autistic and additional support needs young adults who are transitioning into adulthood and want greater independence and control in choosing their own path. We are proud to be person-centred support specialists, evidence-based practitioners and mentors for all of our young people. In addition to our 1:1 support services, we offer respite adventure breaks, weekly supported clubs and courses and epic days out for young adults with ASN. We also provide the Edge Transitions Programme specialist, and one-of-a-kind opportunity for young school leavers with ASN who need a more holistic, vocational approach to independent living skills via a fully supported, day-centre, vocational-style programme for school leavers with additional support needs in Edinburgh and the Lothians, aged 18 years.
How many incidents occurred to which the Duty of Candour applied?
Between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022, there was 1 incident identified where the Duty of Candour applied. These are unintended or unexpected events that result in death or harm as defined in the Act and do not relate directly to the natural course of someone’s illness or underlying condition.
Information about our policies and procedures
We have an incident reporting procedure which stipulates that incidents must be reported to Management within 24 hours of the occurrence. This works in concert with our Duty of Candour policy, which contains information about how and when to communicate with affected individuals/families in the event of an incident which triggers the Duty. These policies are reviewed annually.
Staff are provided with training on Duty of Candour during their induction with us, as well as with training on when and how to report incidents. They also have access to the policies and procedures outlined above.
Since incidents can have a psychological impact on staff, we provide regular supervision sessions to all staff members in addition to incident debriefing sessions.
Additional information
As required, we have notified the Scottish Ministers that we have published this report on our website.
If you would like more information about this report, please contact us.
David Myers, Clinical Compliance Manager
Downloads
By selecting the links below, you will download a PDF copy of the report