Observing a Mistake

Treat "mistake" broadly and describe it without drama. Near-misses, a mis-set drip, a mislaid form, a piece of bad news delivered in the wrong place, or a handover that lost information are all legitimate answers, and they carry the same learning as a serious event without inviting you to embellish. Describe what happened factually and do not identify anyone.

Move quickly to what the system did about it. That is what the station is really testing: whether the error was raised, whether there was a debrief or incident report, whether the patient was told. Naming the duty of candour — the professional obligation to be open with a patient when something goes wrong — is the single most useful thing you can say here.

If you have no example, say so plainly and answer the question underneath it: what you understand about error culture, why blame-based responses make systems less safe, and why you would expect to raise a concern rather than absorb it. Inventing an example is worse than the empty answer and is easily exposed by a follow-up.