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The importance of upholding the duty of candour during patient care

14 January 2021
Healthcare Policy
02 January 2021
Volume 30 · Issue 1

Abstract

In light of recent media coverage, Emeritus Professor Alan Glasper, from the University of Southampton, discusses polices and guidance pertinent to the duty of candour

In September 2020 the Care Quality Commission (CQC) successfully prosecuted University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust for breaching duty of candour policies. At Plymouth Magistrates' Court the Trust was ordered to pay a total of £12 565 in the case of an elderly patient who died following an incident during an endoscopy in 2017 (Morris, 2020).

This case was the first prosecution, but was not the first time that the CQC has fined an NHS trust for a breach of duty of candour regulations. In 2019 the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust was fined £16 250 for failing to apologise to patients within a reasonable period after incidents (CQC, 2019).

Candour, implying honesty and truthfulness, lies at the heart of the Government's continued mission to implement contractual arrangements with the NHS for use when things go wrong with the provision of health care. Birks (2014) has suggested that as few as 30% of harmful errors may be disclosed to patients.

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