Duty of Candour Following Avoidable Harm.

Abstract

Duty of candour has emerged as the key expectation in health care at the ongoing judge-led statutory inquiries, including those conducted by Thirlwall and Lampard. Despite legal requirements in Health and Social Care legislation, backed up by the General Medical Council (GMC) and Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), both clinicians and National Health Service (NHS) managers have been reluctant to comply with this obligation. This article examines the pressures not to avoid transparency following avoidable harm, and suggests a more preventative approach through ongoing dialogue during care delivery including consulting on potential risks pre-treatment and providing feedback following interventions which have been less than successful.