Duty of Candour

THE DUTY OF CANDOUR is a statutory (legal) duty to be open and honest with patients (or ‘service users’), or their families, when something goes wrong that appears to have caused or could lead to significant harm in the future. It applies to all health and social care organisations registered with the regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in England.

Reporting a Serious Incident

What to do if a serious incident takes place

Be Open, Honest and Transparent

The Sunlight Group and its staff must act in an open and transparent way in relation to care and treatment provided to its service users.

Duty of Candour Policy

Notify The Individual Affected

Staff must notify the relevant person (must be verbal and conducted in person) as soon as is reasonably practicable after becoming aware (within ten working days) that a notifiable safety incident has occurred, and provide support to them in relation to the incident, including when giving the notification.

Notification Letter

Document The Incident

The Sunlight Group must provide an account of the incident which, to the best of the Trust’s knowledge, is true of all facts as known about the incident as at the date of notification.

Incident Report - Part 1

Notify Next Steps

The Sunlight Group must advise the affected individual what further enquiries the Sunlight Group believes are appropriate.

Apologise

The Sunlight Group must offer an apology.

Notify The Individual Affected

The Trust must give or send the relevant person a written notification, which confirms all of the above, together with the results of any further enquiries. Any investigation reports must be shared with the patient, family or carer within ten days of being signed off as complete.

Incident Report - Part 2

Record Investigation and Findings

The Sunlight Group must keep securely a written record of all and every communication with the relevant person which must be uploaded onto the Service Users Care for IT record.