CQC has updated its guidance for providers on meeting Regulation 20, the duty of candour.
The duty of candour was introduced in 2014 in response to concerns raised following investigations into Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust. The regulation puts a legal duty on all health and social care providers to be open and transparent with people using services, and their families, in relation to their treatment and care.
The purpose of the guidance is to set out what providers must do to meet the requirements of the statutory duty of candour and the circumstances in which it must be applied.
Notifiable safety incident
The guidance sets out specific actions that providers must take when a notifiable safety incident occurs. These include:
- informing the people affected about the incident
- offering reasonable support
- providing truthful information and a timely apology.
A copy of the updated guidance can be accessed at the following link:
https://www.cqc.org.uk/guidance-providers/all-services/duty-candour-guidance-providers
Ted Baker, CQC’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals, said:
“The duty of candour is a crucial part of a positive, open and safe culture. People using any type of health or social care service have a right to be informed about all elements of their care and treatment – and, all providers have a responsibility to be open and honest with those in their care.
“Where the duty of candour is not being carried out properly, there can often be wider concerns around a lack of transparency, staff not feeling able to speak up and mistakes not being learned from.
“Candour is integral to a ‘just culture’ and it is vital that we help providers get this right. Candour cannot be an ‘add on’ or a simple matter of compliance – it will only be effective as part of a wider commitment to safety, learning and improvement.
“Good progress has been made by many providers, but more needs to be done to ensure that the culture of openness is fully embedded. CQC will keep its focus on this essential element of a safe culture going forward and we have updated the guidance for providers to help them drive further improvements.”
Commenting on the guidance, Helen Vernon, Chief Executive of NHS Resolution, said:
“NHS Resolution fully supports the CQC’s updated Duty of Candour guidance.
“Through our own guidance, Saying Sorry, we encourage an early apology when something goes wrong. This is not an admission of liability, is always the right thing to do and is the first step to learning from what happened.
“The CQC guidance is a valuable resource to enable a clear understanding of how the duty of candour applies in healthcare.”
CQC has also updated its internal guidance on duty of candour and has said that it will be rolling out a programme of training for inspectors to support the guidance.
