01
Trigger
When a manager classifies an incident as notifiable, the Duty of Candour chain opens automatically with four timestamped steps: verbal notification, written notification, investigation update, and outcome shared.
Live on Govern and aboveGovern · £249/home/month
The four steps Reg 20 requires, on a clock.
When a notifiable safety incident occurs, Regulation 20 requires providers to take four sequential actions: notify the person (or their representative), offer a verbal apology, follow up in writing, and share the outcome of the investigation. Each step has a timeframe. Missing one is a regulatory breach.
Care-Meter's Duty of Candour Tracker opens a compliance chain the moment an incident is classified as notifiable, tracks each of the four steps against their due dates, and surfaces overdue steps in the Exception Inbox before they become a breach.
app.care-meter.co.uk/incidents/doi-047
Duty of Candour (Reg 20)
Status: IN_PROGRESS
James Wilson · Room 4 · Fall with injury
✓Verbal notificationDONE
2Written notification + apologyPENDING
3Investigation outcome communicatedLOCKED
4Investigation closedLOCKED
How it works
Three steps from capture to evidence
02
Track
Each step shows its due date and completion status. As steps are completed, they are timestamped and sealed in the audit vault with the actor's identity.
03
Alert
Overdue steps surface in the Exception Inbox before the deadline passes. The manager sees which incident, which step, and how overdue, not a generic alert.
What it replaces
The old way
The mental overhead of remembering which incidents need candour follow-up, which steps have been completed, and which are approaching their deadline. Right now that burden is spread across a manager's memory, a calendar reminder, and a paper checklist that may or may not travel with the incident file. When CQC asks to see Duty of Candour records, you reconstruct them rather than produce them.
Regulatory grounding
What this means for inspection
The Regulation 20 Duty of Candour quality statement is assessed by looking at whether the provider has systems that ensure notifiable incidents receive open and transparent follow-up. Care-Meter produces a timestamped record of every Duty of Candour chain, showing who did each step, when, and what was communicated. That record can be shown on demand during inspection.
It also maps to Governance, management and sustainability: the system demonstrates that the provider has a process for managing statutory notifications, not just an intention.
---
Duty of Candour Tracker is available on Care-Meter Govern (£249/home/month) and Inspect (£349/home/month) plans.
Regulation 20: Duty of CandourGovernance, management and sustainabilitySafe and Effective Staffing
Care-Meter
Try free on your first 10 residents
No card. No time limit. Start on the Free tier, upgrade when you’re ready.