Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take steps to strengthen the application of the duty of candour to leaders and managers within the NHS.

The statutory duty of candour, introduced in 2014 for National Health Service trusts and 2015 for all other providers, requires all providers of NHS services to inform and apologise to patients where something unexpected or unintended happens that causes, or could be causing moderate or severe harm, death, or prolonged psychological harm. A failure to comply with the duty under regulation 20 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 can lead to enforcement action, including prosecution, by the Care Quality Commission.

Professional regulators, such as the General Medical Council and the Nursing and Midwifery Council, also made the Duty of Candour a professional requirement for their registered members in 2014.