UK public law The United Kingdom constitutional law concerns the governance of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. With the oldest continuous political system on Earth, the British constitution is not contained in a single code but princ ...

, the duty of candour is the

duty A duty (from "due" meaning "that which is owing"; fro, deu, did, past participle of ''devoir''; la, debere, debitum, whence "debt") is a commitment or expectation to perform some action in general or if certain circumstances arise. A duty may ...

imposed on a public authority 'not to seek to win litigation at all costs but to assist the court in reaching the correct result and thereby to improve standards in public administration'. Lord Donaldson MR in ''R v Lancashire County Council ex p. Huddleston'' stated that

public servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

s should be willing 'to explain fully what has occurred and why'. There is also a contractual duty of candour imposed on all

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

and non-NHS providers of services to NHS patients in the UK to 'provide to the service user and any other relevant person all necessary support and all relevant information' in the event that a 'reportable patient safety incident' occurs. A 'reportable patient safety incident' is one which could have or did result in moderate or severe harm or death. Campaigner Will Powell led a campaign for NHS managers and doctors to have a formal 'duty of candour' when dealing with complaints about negligent or poor standards of care in NHS hospitals. In January 2014

David Behan Sir David Behan (born November 1955) is a British public servant who is the current Chair of Health Education England and also Independent Non-Executive Chairman of HC-One. Career Behan began his career as a social worker, progressing as a m ...

, chief executive of the

Care Quality Commission The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care of the United Kingdom. It was established in 2009 to regulate and inspect health and social care services in England. I ...

, threw his weight behind a wide definition for the statutory duty of candour which was recommended by the Francis Report. The Government originally intended the duty to be limited to cases of “severe harm” – when a patient had been killed or left permanently disabled, as a wider reporting requirement could inundate organisations with unnecessary bureaucracy. The CQC estimates there are about 11,000 incidents of severe harm per year, and up to 100,000 incidents of serious harm, although there may be significant under reporting of both. The charity

Action Against Medical Accidents Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA) is a UK charity for patient safety and justice. It works with people who have been affected by medical accidents. It is based in Surrey. The charity provides free, independent advice and support to people ...

has been campaigning for a wide definition and Behan made it clear that he was supporting them.

References

Health law in the United Kingdom National Health Service {{UK-law-stub

See also

References