We highlight the need for openness and honesty in the proposed statutory Duty of Candour
What we need is a statutory Duty of Candour that applies to both organisations and individuals, and requires complete honesty about every incident so that problems can be spotted early.
The government has published a full response to the 290 recommendations made by Robert Francis, following the public inquiry in to the failings at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust.
Responding to the Secretary of State’s response to the Francis Inquiry, Chair of Healthwatch England, Anna Bradley, said:
“Introducing a statutory Duty of Candour was supposed to create an uncompromising approach to the handling of poor care, using legislation to underpin major culture change around the importance of honesty and openness within our health and social care services.
“What we need is a statutory Duty of Candour that applies to both organisations and individuals, and requires complete honesty about every incident so that problems can be spotted early. Applying it to only the most serious cases of neglect and harm, as is hinted in the report, would completely miss the point.”
