The Duty of Candour
The professional duty of candour is that of being open and honest with patients and team members when something goes wrong.
An NHS joint statement has advised that should such an incident occur you should
Tell the patient
Apologise to the patient
Offer a solution on how to remedy the situation or how you intend to support the patient.
Explain the potential effects both in the short and long term
Not only does the duty of candour mean that you are honest with your patients should something go wrong but also with your team members and relevant organisations.
You should also see the incident as an opportunity to learn from what went wrong or what might have contributed to the incident. By doing so you will reduce the risk of the incident recurring and thus improve the standard of care to your patients.
In addition to the professional duty of candour, statutory duty of candour also exists. According to this organisations have a responsibility to foster a culture and environment in which staff feel they can speak openly and honestly should things go wrong in practice.
You can find the complete GMC guidance on the duty of candour below:
You can find a summary of the duty of candour by watching the video below: