CVS strengthens patient safety culture with major progress in its ‘Let’s Learn from Mistakes’ campaign

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In the last year the group saw a substantial increase in reporting and learning activity with a 200% increase in VetSafe reports
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CVS Veterinary Group has released the latest results from its Let’s Learn from Mistakes campaign, showing significant progress in patient safety, psychological safety and clinical learning across its practices in the UK.

Launched in 2024, the Let’s Learn from Mistakes mission is CVS’ group-wide commitment to changing how clinical teams understand, discuss and learn from adverse events. The programme set out to improve psychological safety and embrace the principles of a just culture -  in other words treating clinical errors as typically resulting from multiple contributing factors and creating a supportive environment where colleagues feel able to speak up about improvement.

The campaign encourages colleagues to talk openly about unexpected outcomes, record adverse events on VetSafe, an incident reporting and risk management system, and complete structured learning reviews. The overall aim is to learn at a practice and organisational level.

Angela Rayner, CVS Director of Quality Improvement, said:

"The launch of our Equine SQP qualification reflects growing demand for flexible, accessible training routes within the veterinary and equine sectors. We are proud to offer a programme that enables learners to gain a recognised qualification while balancing work and other commitments." "By studying online with support from our experienced SQP tutors, learners can develop the knowledge, confidence and practical skills required to prescribe and supply veterinary medicines responsibly, while helping to support equine health and welfare."
“For learning purposes, what happened - not who did what - must be the focus. Our progress shows what can happen when teams feel safe to speak openly, reflect honestly and use mistakes as an opportunity to grow. We are building a culture where people feel supported, not blamed, and where clinical care becomes safer as a result.”

Over the past year, the organisation saw a substantial increase in reporting and learning activity. VetSafe reports rose from 761 to 2,275 - a 200% increase. Practices also completed many more learning reviews, enabling meaningful local improvements tailored to each clinical environment. These included updates to surgical safety checklists, enhanced equipment maintenance routines, refinements to hospitalisation protocols, improvements to dispensing workflows and strengthened patient handover procedures. Practices that proactively engaged with VetSafe data reported higher levels of teamwork, clinical confidence and patient safety.

As part of CVS’s employee net promoter score survey, the group regularly asks about psychological safety in its workplaces to gauge progress. In the 12 months between September 2024 and 2025, CVS saw improvements in the percentage of colleagues who felt able to speak up about anything that concerns them; the percentage who felt that if they made a mistake at work it will not be held against them; and the percentage who feel there is a culture of continuous improvement in their team. These scores demonstrated that the mission supported both learning and emotional wellbeing and did not contribute to fear or distress among colleagues involved in adverse events.

The impact of the programme has also been recognised nationally, with CVS receiving a Highly Commended accolade in the RCVS Knowledge Awards. The recognition highlights the success of the organisation’s approach to building a just culture, supporting psychological safety and using quality improvement principles to strengthen patient safety and clinical learning across its practices.

Rayner emphasised that CVS has further to go.

“This is a long-term commitment and our goal is for every CVS practice to routinely use VetSafe and learning reviews as part of everyday clinical care.”
CVS Veterinary Group operates across small animal, farm animal, equine, laboratories and crematoria, with more than 500 sites in the UK and Australia.