Duty of Candour — What to Do After a Patient Safety Incident

So far in this course, we have focused on preventing patient safety incidents and responding when they occur. But what happens after an incident? This lesson covers the duty of candour — the legal and ethical obligation to be open and honest with patients when things go wrong.

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What Is the Duty of Candour?

The duty of candour is a legal requirement in the NHS (introduced by the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and strengthened following the Francis Inquiry into Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust). It requires healthcare organisations and professionals to:

1. Tell the patient (or their family) when something has gone wrong
2. Apologise sincerely
3. Explain what happened and what is being done about it
4. Support the patient through any consequences
5. Learn from the incident to prevent recurrence

The GMC reinforces this in Good Medical Practice: