I made a mistake...

Today, a carer made a mistake. And I didn’t shout.

Today, one of our carers made an error. Nothing that caused harm, but enough to matter. Enough to pause, assess, and put right.

What surprised them most wasn’t the mistake.

It was that I didn’t shout.

And that got me thinking.

In complex care, mistakes will happen. We work in high-pressure environments, with long shifts, detailed protocols, and real human lives depending on us. The goal is not perfection — the goal is safety. And safety is built on honesty, learning, and trust, not fear.

I didn’t shout because:

Shouting doesn’t fix systems.

Shouting doesn’t improve practice.

Shouting doesn’t make someone safer next time.

What it does do is make people afraid. Afraid to speak up. Afraid to report. Afraid to admit when something isn’t right. And in care, that fear is dangerous.

Instead, we stopped.

We talked through what happened.

We documented it.

We looked at why it happened, not just that it did.

And we agreed what would change going forward.

That is leadership. Not because it’s soft — but because it’s responsible.

There is a huge difference between being calm and being complacent. I am not okay with mistakes being repeated. I am not okay with shortcuts. I am not okay with anything that puts people's safety at risk. But I am okay with being human. And I expect the same honesty from the people who we care for.

I want a team who feel safe to say: “I’m not sure.”

“I’ve made an error.”

“I need support.”

Because those words protect lives.

As a manager and safeguarding lead, I know I must respond professionally.

And as someone building a culture around care, I choose learning over blame, every time.

If you shout at people for mistakes, they stop telling you.

If they stop telling you, you stop seeing risk.

And that’s when harm happens.

So no, I didn’t shout.

I led.

And I’m proud of that.