Duty of Candour

Being honest when something goes wrong

If something goes wrong with your care and it causes you harm, we will tell you. We will not wait to be asked, and we will not wait for you to find out some other way.

That is our commitment, and it is also the law.

What the duty of candour is

HG Mind Works is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the independent regulator of health and social care in England. As a registered provider, we are bound by Regulation 20 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 — the statutory duty of candour.

The duty applies when a notifiable safety incident occurs: an unintended or unexpected incident during your care that, in the reasonable opinion of a health care professional, appears to have resulted in — or could still result in — your death, severe harm, moderate harm, or psychological harm lasting 28 days or more.

Our clinicians are also bound by a professional duty of candour through their own regulators, including the Nursing and Midwifery Council, the Health and Care Professions Council, and the General Medical Council.

What we will do

If a notifiable safety incident affects you, we will:

Tell you in person, as soon as we reasonably can.
Say sorry. A genuine apology, not a formality.
Explain what we know, in plain language — including what we do not yet know.
Tell you what happens next, including any further enquiries we will carry out.
Follow up in writing, with a written account of what we discussed and what our enquiries found.
Offer you support, and tell you how to get independent advice or advocacy.
Keep a secure record of everything we tell you.

If you have died or you are unable to make decisions for yourself, we will do this with someone lawfully acting on your behalf.

An apology is not an admission of liability

Saying sorry is not a legal admission. It is what we owe you. We would rather apologise honestly and early than protect ourselves with silence.

Why this matters to us

We work with NHS trusts, blue light services and employers, delivering mental health care to people who are often already struggling. Being lied to — or being told nothing — is its own kind of harm. Openness is not a compliance exercise for us; it is the minimum condition of being trusted with someone’s mental health.

We also treat every incident as something to learn from. Where we get something wrong, we change what we do.

If you have a concern

You do not have to wait for us to come to you. If you think something has gone wrong, tell us.

Email: contact@hg-mindworks.com
Phone: 0208 126 8767

You can also raise a concern through our Feedback & Complaints process.

You are entitled to raise concerns with the Care Quality Commission at any point, and you do not need our permission to do so. The CQC does not investigate individual complaints, but it uses what you tell it to decide where and what to inspect. Visit cqc.org.uk or call 03000 616161.

HG Mind Works Limited is registered with the Care Quality Commission. Provider ID: 1-25757603783.
Last reviewed: July 2026. Next review: July 2027.