Duty of Candour virtual forum

Webinar resource

On 8 September 2022, the Safety and Learning team hosted a webinar on the Duty of Candour. This was also a great opportunity to promote NHS Resolution’s Duty of Candour animation.

Speakers included Dr Denise Chaffer (Director of Safety and Learning and RCN President), Lou Pye (Head of Family Engagement, HSIB), Claire Land (Head of Acute Policy, CQC), Andrew Craggs (Head of Health, Hill Dickinson LLP) and Sean Doherty (Partner, Clinical Risk, DAC Beachcroft, LLP).

The four key messages:

  1. Being open and transparent with patients and their families when treatment or care goes wrong is key to good duty of candour compliance.
  2. Saying sorry is always the right thing to do and is not an admission of liability.
  3. Always be compassionate towards the needs of the patient and their family.
  4. Ensure conversations are bespoke to the patients and family’s needs, consider the sensitivities of the situation and always ensure that all communication is personalised and empathetic.

Over half of attendees stated that they intended to discuss the key messages with their colleagues and teams and 42% stated they learnt something new by attending the webinar.

Resource publication date: