Candour

Question 1

What is the Duty of Candour?

Answer 1

“The volunteering of all relevant information to persons who have or may have been harmed by the provision of services, whether or not the information has been requested and whether or not a complaint or a report about that provision has been made.”

Robert Francis (2013)

Question 2

In the Francis report what is the Recomendation 181?

Answer 2

Recommendation 181: provides that there should be a statutory duty of candour on healthcare providers, registered medical practitioners, nurses and other registered health professionals where there is a belief or suspicion that any treatment or care provided to a patient by or on behalf of their employing healthcare provider has caused death or serious injury

Question 3

Individuals have a Professional (legal) Duty of Candour

What is this Expressed by the GMC as?

Answer 3

“You must be open and honest with patients if things go wrong. If a patient under your care has suffered harm or distress, you should:

1. put matters right (if that is possible)
2. offer an apology
3. explain fully and promptly what has happened and the likely short-term and long-term effects.”

Question 4

What triggers a Statutory Duty of Candour in Dentistry?

Answer 4

Harm, which is not ‘severe harm’, but which results in:

1. an increase in the patient’s treatment eg: #’d endo file
2. changes to the structure of the patient’s body eg: wrong tooth extraction
3. impairment of function which lasted (or is likely to last) for at least 28 days continuously eg: paresthesia after hypochlorite incident
4. pain or psychological harm that has lasted (or is likely to last) at least 28 days continuously. eg: accessed wrong tooth leaving patient with irreversible pulpitis

Question 5

You provide a composite filling for a patient. They return a week later with post-operative sensitivity. Does this trigger your professional duty of candour?

Answer 5

no

Question 6

Which of the following is NOT required to prove negligence?

• Duty of care
• Causation
• Breach of duty
• Duty of Candour

Answer 6

Duty of Candour