As a firm, we value our independence and integrity to the utmost. We have built a solid, long-standing reputation for delivering independent investigations, reviews and evaluations which can be trusted by clients, families and regulatory bodies nationally. We are proud to be an Employee Owned Trust as well as a BCorp and we are ISO:9001 certified for our quality standards.
We are very used to the professional services environment and many of our team have worked for both the NHS and also for ‘Big 4’ audit firms, we understand the consultancy environment as well as what is required of delivering projects to both the NHS and private sector. Book in a call any time to talk to us about your requirements.
You may be a professionally registered person, such as a Nurse or Doctor, who is involved in the process of review or investigation. We want you to feel confident and assured about our approaches to professional practice and the inclusion of your views.
Firstly, it is important that you know that we work within an environment of just culture. Our work is not about attributing blame or singling people out. We know that healthcare always consists of imperfect people within an imperfect system and we take this fully into account.
People are not identifiable within our reports. We operate a coded system as people appear chronologically in our work, for example, CC1 (Care Coordinator One). If there is any way that you might be identified by your role or involvement then we will take extra care to ensure you have the opportunity to see the references to you before anyone else does; this is ‘right of reply’ or ‘Maxwellisation’.
If we remain concerned about any individual actions we provide an ACIP (appendix Citing Individual Practice) to the accountable person in your organisation only. We do not report to the GMC, or NMC as we see it as the responsibility of the employer to make a judgement on conduct.
The only external reporting we would undertake is if a Safeguarding Adults or Children reportable issue came to our attention.
Healthcare quality will not improve if investigations into serious incidents are not reliable and if families are not involved to give their unique insights into care.
Fundamentally families need answers as to why harm has occurred and we are here to help to get you those answers. We know that these may not always be the answers you expected, sometimes they may be; but you can be assured that scrutiny will be thorough and will result in recommendations for change.
We know that being involved in an investigation can seem daunting and we recognise the need to work at the pace you require, with as little or as much involvement as you would like to have.
In whatever capacity you are participating in an investigation or review, we recognise that this can be stressful. Try to understand that your feelings, whether they be anger, sadness, disbelief, are all completely normal.
We always do our utmost to undertake our work with compassion, however, there will likely be times that you need dedicated professional support which the review team cannot provide. Here, we provide some useful contact information, we also strongly encourage you to read our guidance on trauma which can be accessed here.
Healthcare quality will not improve if investigations into serious incidents are not robust. Families will also not get the answers that they need unless they are able to be part of the process.
We are one of a few organisations on the NHS England Framework to undertake independent investigations following catastrophic incidents in healthcare. We take our work very seriously as we know that the outcome of our work can impact people’s lives.
We know that participating in an investigation or review can be a daunting and confusing process. We have provided a detailed guide for families which can be accessed here.
We are proud to be a supplier on the following frameworks.
NHS England framework for independent investigations
The NHS is required to commission an independent investigation for significant serious incidents, and the wider NHS is required under the Serious Incident Framework to investigate all patient safety/serious incidents and may require additional expertise and independent scrutiny for an investigation. This framework supports such investigations.
Framework: SBS10197, Consultancy and Advisory Services for Health
We are currently on Lot 1 – Business, Leadership, Management, Governance, Structure & Strategy. This lot covers a variety of business application areas including business analysis, programme & project management, business strategy, mergers & acquisitions and complex projects.
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