When a notifiable safety incident occurs, Regulation 20 requires providers to notify the person (or their representative) in person as soon as reasonably practicable, apologise, follow up in writing, and share the outcome of the investigation. Each step needs a record of who did it, when, and what was communicated.
When an incident is classified as notifiable, Care-Meter's Duty of Candour Tracker asks a manager to record whether Regulation 20 applies, with a written reason if it does not. Where it applies, the record holds four steps, from verbal notification with apology to the investigation closed with preventive action documented, with who did each and when, and Duty of Candour work that needs attention surfaces in the Exception Inbox.
Duty of Candour (Reg 20)
James Wilson · Room 4 · Fall with injury
How it works
When an incident is classified as notifiable, a manager is asked to record whether Duty of Candour (Regulation 20) applies, with a written reason if it does not. Being notifiable to CQC does not by itself mean it applies. Where it applies, the record holds four steps: verbal notification with apology, written notification with apology, investigation outcome communicated, and investigation closed with preventive action documented.
Each step shows its completion status. As steps are completed, they are timestamped and kept in the audit record with the identity of the person who recorded them, and the written notification is kept with the incident.
Duty of Candour work that needs attention surfaces in the Exception Inbox. The manager sees which incident and which step, not a generic alert.
What it replaces
The mental overhead of remembering which incidents need candour follow-up, which steps have been completed, and which are still open. 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
The Regulation 20 Duty of Candour quality statement is assessed by looking at whether the provider has systems that ensure that incidents where Duty of Candour applies 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 gives the provider a record of its process for managing statutory notifications, not just an intention.
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Duty of Candour Tracker is available on Care-Meter Govern (£249/home/month) and Inspect (£349/home/month) plans.
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