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Duty of Candour (Scotland) Policy

Policy Statement

The policy sets out the approach of this care service to be open and transparent with the people using its services if it makes mistakes when providing care and treatment that result in their suffering harm or being at risk of suffering harm as a result.

It is produced to comply with the duty of candour requirement set out in the Health (Tobacco, Nicotine, etc and Care) (Scotland) Act 2016 and The Duty of Candour Procedure (Scotland) Regulations 2018 and the Scottish Government’s Organisational Duty of Candour guidance for health and social care.

Accidents, injuries and incidents requiring the exercise of a duty of candour will include those that must be notified to the Care Inspectorate under its notification procedures.

What is the Duty of Candour?

This service understands that it must always be open and transparent way with the people receiving its care and those closely involved in their care. This is reflected in our statement of aims and objectives and approach to leadership and management, and in all of the service’s relationships with people and others involved in their care and treatment.

The service understands that it owes a duty of candour particularly when things go wrong with people’s care and treatment. Thus it recognises that whenever an error has occurred, which must be notified to the Care Inspectorate, it must carry out the following actions.

The service provider will:

• be open with the person receiving care and other relevant persons about the incident
• provide suitable support to the person receiving care and others affected by the incident
• explain directly and in person to the person receiving care and/or their representatives exactly what has happened
• apologise, for example express sorrow and regret for what has happened
• say what is being done to investigate and learn the lessons from what has happened and further actions that might be taken
• undertake to put in writing what has happened and the apology
• keep full records of the incident, including all associated correspondence and the actions that have been taken to carry out the duty of candour with the person receiving care and/or representatives.

Where the person has given consent to their care and support the above actions will be directed at them personally and to others with their agreement. Where the person has been unable to give their consent to their care because of mental incapacity the actions will be followed through communication with their lawful representatives with the expectation that the person receiving care will be involved as much as possible.

Activating the Organisational Duty of Candour

In line with government guidance, the service provider will activate the duty of candour procedure as soon as possible after becoming aware that an unintended or unexpected incident has occurred in the delivery of the service, which has resulted in a user of the service being harmed (as assessed by a registered health professional) in one or more of the following ways.

• the death of the person
• a permanent lessening of bodily, sensory, motor, physiologic or intellectual functions
• an increase in the person’s treatment
• changes to the structure of the person’s body
• the shortening of the life expectancy of the person
• an impairment of the sensory, motor or intellectual functions of the person which has lasted, or is likely to last, for a continuous period of at least 28 days
• the person experiencing pain or psychological harm which has been, or is likely to be, experienced by the person for a continuous period of at least 28 days
• the person requiring treatment by a registered health professional in order to prevent:
  • the death of the person or
  • any injury to the person which, if left untreated, would lead to one or more of the outcomes mentioned above.

The service provider will initiate the formal duty of candour procedure no later than one month after the date on which the incident occurred, and as soon as possible after the outcomes have been known. In addition to taking the steps directly required of it, the service will cooperate fully with an external investigations that are made into the incident such as a serious case review.

Staff Conduct

The service expects its staff in line with their professional code of conduct to apply a duty of candour in all of their work with people receiving care It requires them:

• to be open and honest
• to admit mistakes where they occur
• to apologise for them
• to put matters right promptly
• to follow all applicable reporting and recording procedures.

The service will take appropriate disciplinary action if there is evidence that staff committing mistakes are doing so in breach of their professional code of conduct.

Training

Staff training covers the service ethos of openness and transparency, individual responsibilities to act in open and transparent ways and the procedures which the service will follow in exercising its duty of candour following incidents that fall within its scope.

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