Duty of Candour Policy
Ya Wee Butey Aesthetics
Date Effective | 01/10/25 | |
---|---|---|
Review Date | 1 year after opening | |
Version Number | 1 | |
Policy Owner/Author | Debbie Rios |
Purpose of Policy
Ya Wee Butey is committed to providing high-quality, safe, and ethical care to all patients. As part of this commitment we adhere to a duty of candour as required by regulatory and professional standards, including those set by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). The NMC states that all healthcare professionals have a duty of candour – this is professional responsibility to be honest with patients and people in their care when something that goes wrong with their treatment or care causes, or has the potential to cause harm or distress. As professionals we must also be open and honest with colleagues, employers and relevant organisations, and take part in reviews and investigations when requested. We must also be open and honest with our regulators, raising concerns where appropriate, encouraging each other to be open and honest and not to try and prevent someone from raising concerns.
There is a duty to be open and honest with patients, people who use services, and those close to them. This includes apologising when something goes wrong.
There is also a duty to be open and honest with your organisation and encourage a learning culture by reporting adverse incidents that lead to harm, or near misses. This might include your employer, trusts, the professional regulator and any other organisation investigating what went wrong.
Considering the above we must:
· Notify the person (or where appropriate, their advocate, carer or family) when something has gone wrong
· Apologise to the person (or where appropriate, their advocate, carer or family).
· Carry out a review into the circumstances that led to the incident
· Offer a meeting with the person affected and/or their family, where appropriate
· Provide the person affected with an account of the incident
· We will provide information about further steps taken
· We will provide support to staff notifying the person affected by the incident
· Offer an appropriate remedy or support to put matters right (if possible).
· Explain fully to the person (or where appropriate, their advocate, carer or family) the short and long term effects of what has happened.
· We will prepare and publish an annual duty of candour report. (template at end of document) This will be published on the website www.yaweebutey.co.uk
· We will also notify Healthcare Improvement Scotland if any Duty of Candour incidents occur.
Policy Statement and Aims
At Ya Wee Butey we will act in an open, honest and transparent manner when:
· A patient experiences unintended or unexpected harm during treatment that results in moderate or significant harm, prolonged recovery, or worsened health.
· An incident occurs that could undermine trust in the care provided.
Scope
This policy will be in place for staff members, patients and contractors
Key Principles
1) Honestly and Transparency
· Patients will be informed promptly if something goes wrong
· Apologies will be offered sincerely and without reservation
2) Timely Communication
· Discussions will take place as soon as the incident is identified.
· Patients will receive regular updates regarding any investigations and outcomes.
· Staff involved in incidents will also receive appropriate support and guidance.
Procedure for Handling Duty of Candour Incidents
1) Identify and Acknowledge
· Any practitioner, including registered midwives, who identifies a potential incident, must report it to the clinic manager.
2) Inform the Patient
· The patient will be informed verbally as soon as possible, followed by a written summary.
The explanation will include:
· What happened
· Why it happened (if known)
· Actions taken to prevent reoccurrence
3) Document and Investigate
· All incidents will be reordered in line with clinic policies involving patients in a review of what happened.
· Investigations will be conducted to determine the root cause.
4) Apology and Follow Up
· An apology will be offered that expresses genuine regret.
· Patients will be updated about investigation is complete, advise patients of any actions required to improve the quality of care and outcomes and any changes implemented informed by the principles of learning and continuous improvement and learning.
Enforcement and Compliance
It is the Ya Wee Butey owner Debbie Rios who will be responsible for the implementation and audit of this policy. It will be reviewed frequently to ensure compliance with regulators and clinical guidelines.
References/Related Information
· Nursing and Midwifery Council. (2024). Guidance on the Professional duty of candour. Online at https://www.nmc.org.uk/standards/guidance/the-professional-duty-of-candour/ accessed on 12/01/25.
· Care Inspectorate. (2019). Healthcare Standards. https://www.gov.scot/policies/healthcare-standards/duty-of-candour/ accessed on 12/01/25
IHC-Duty-of-Candour-Template-for-Providers-January-2020.docx
Duty of Candour annual report template
Every healthcare professional must be open and honest with patients when something that goes wrong with their treatment or care causes, or has the potential to cause, harm or distress. Services must tell the patient, apologise, offer appropriate remedy or support and fully explain the effects to the patient.
As part of our responsibilities, we must produce an annual report to provide a summary of the number of times we have trigger duty of Candour within our service.
Name & address of service: | ||
Date of report: | ||
How have you made sure that you (and your staff) understand your responsibilities
relating to the duty of candour and have systems in place to respond effectively? How have you done this? |
||
Do you have a Duty of Candour Policy or written duty of candour procedure? | YES | NO |
How many times have you/your service implemented the duty of candour procedure this financial year? | |
Type of unexpected or unintended incidents (not relating to the natural course of someone’s illness or underlying conditions) |
Number of times this has happened (April XX – March XX) |
A person died | |
A person incurred permanent lessening of bodily, sensory, motor, physiologic or intellectual functions | |
A person’s treatment increased | |
The structure of a person’s body changed | |
A person’s life expectancy shortened | |
A person’s sensory, motor or intellectual functions was impaired for 28 days or more | |
A person experienced pain or psychological harm for 28 days or more | |
A person needed health treatment in order to prevent them dying | |
A person needing health treatment in order to prevent other injuries as listed above | |
Total | |
Did the responsible person for triggering duty of candour appropriately follow the procedure?
If not, did this result is any under or over reporting of duty of candour? |
|
What lessons did you learn? | |
What learning & improvements have been put in place as a result? | |
Did this result is a change / update to your duty of candour policy / procedure? | |
How did you share lessons learned and who with? | |
Could any further improvements be made? | |
What systems do you have in place to support staff to provide an apology in a person-centred way and how do you support staff to enable them to do this? | |
What support do you have available for people involved in invoking the procedure and those who might be affected? | Please note anything else that you feel may be applicable to report. |