On the 10th October the Department of Health (DH) launched a consultation on the contractual duty of candour.
In short the DH is proposing, as part of the new Health and Social Care Bill, that a contractual duty of candour will be placed upon the provider.
The consultation asks for views on how to design a contractual requirement for organisations to be open with those affected when things go wrong. It also asks how best to support patients and clinicians to ensure people are told when things go wrong. The findings will be published alongside a final contractual requirement in 2012.
To find out more about the arguments for and against a contractual “Duty of Candour” see the AvMa and the Medical Protection Society websites
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