Duty of Candour

Mission

Now that Duty of Candour has become a statutory requirement, there is a danger of organisations prioritising the ticking of legal boxes – rather than focusing on the most important aspect of an ethical response to someone who has suffered avoidable harm. The new professional codes help to some extent, but given the difficulty of having these conversations with patients and relatives, there is huge scope for the sharing of ideas and good practice.

This CoP aims to articulate the elements of a positive learning culture by placing patients and their relatives at its heart and combining support and pastoral care with fair accountability for staff:

• How to support staff who have been involved in an incident where harm has occurred

• How to have conversations that meet the expectations of patients and their families

• Incident reporting processes

• Investigations and after-event reviews

• Training and core skills aspects

• Professional self evaluation, appraisal and revalidation

• Performance management and disciplinary aspects

• Pastoral care and support of staff.

Co-conveners:
Kim Tolley, Regional Liaison Adviser for South London
General Medical Council
Contact: kim.tolley@gmc-uk.org

Shruthi Belavadi, Clinical Quality Manager (Patient Safety), North Central & East London
Contact: shruthi.belavadi@nhs.net

Myrna Harding, South London and the Maudsley
Contact: Myrna.Harding@slam.nhs.uk