Recommendation IBI-4a(iii): Duty of Candour - England Review

The Government is clear that the statutory (organisational) duty needs to act as a catalyst for health and social care providers to improve openness and commit to a learning culture. The Government is supportive of the review we inherited into the effectiveness and implementation of the duty. On 26th November 2024, we published a report on the findings of the call for evidence issued by the Department of Health and Social Care in April 2024. The findings suggest that the duty is functioning effectively in some places but is underwhelming in totality. For example, a majority of respondents thought the duty’s purpose was not clear or well understood, that staff across health and social care do not understand the duty’s requirements and therefore application of the duty is inconsistent and open to misinterpretation, and that providers do not engage patients and service users in a meaningful or compassionate way. This cannot be justified and our aim is to examine how all providers and their leaders can act upon the statutory duty of candour consistently and effectively. We are using the findings of our consultation on manager regulation, which closed on 18 February 2025, to help inform the final response to the review on the statutory duty of candour. The Government is preparing its consultation response and we plan to publish the final duty of candour review report once the consultation response has been published.