R10 Response Accepted AI-assessed

CDI patient information

Recommendation

Health Boards should ensure that patients diagnosed with CDI are given information by medical and nursing staff about their condition and prognosis.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
According to the revised Charter of Patient Rights and Responsibilities (June 2022) under the Patient Rights (Scotland) Act 2011, NHS Health Boards are required to provide patients diagnosed with *C. difficile* infection (CDI) with information about their condition and prognosis. According to the Health (Tobacco Nicotine etc. and Care) (Scotland) Act 2016 and its 2018 Regulations, the statutory Duty of Candour further mandates organisations to inform patients about incidents; furthermore, according to the available evidence, non-statutory guidance for this duty was revised in March 2025.
How was this assessed?
Assessed by gemini-2.5-flash on 19 Mar 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
External sources searched: www.gov.uk, www.gov.scot, www.legislation.gov.uk, hansard.parliament.uk
This recommendation requires implementation across many organisations. The assessment reflects central policy response, not adoption in individual organisations.
Jurisdiction
Scotland
Response
Accepted
Accepted Scottish Government
18 Jun 2015

Section 4.2 of the Scottish Government's response highlights initiatives promoting person-centred care, including the 'Must Do with Me' elements, which emphasize 'what information do you need?' and patient involvement in decisions. The response also details efforts to improve health literacy, with a national action plan and a Clinical Lead for Health Literacy, to ensure communication is meaningful and people have sufficient knowledge and understanding of their health. These measures aim to ensure patients receive necessary information about their condition and prognosis.

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Published Evidence

Published assessments of implementation progress from inspectorates, select committees, official progress reports, and other sources. Check the source type badge to see whether each assessment is independent or government self-reported.

Good Progress
01 Jun 2022
Scottish Government Other

Charter of Patient Rights and Responsibilities revised June 2022 under Patient Rights (Scotland) Act 2011. Statutory Duty of Candour established under Health (Tobacco Nicotine etc. and Care) (Scotland) Act 2016 requires organisations to inform patients about incidents and apologise.

View detailed findings

Duty of Candour Procedure (Scotland) Regulations 2018 established the statutory duty. Non-statutory guidance revised March 2025. Patient Advice and Support Service (PASS) provides free independent support to patients.

Charter of Patient Rights and Responsibilities, r… View Source
Source
Inquiry Vale of Leven Inquiry
Report The Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry Report 24 Nov 2014
View Source
Responsible Bodies
NHS Health Boards (Scotland) Primary
Themes & Tags
No person-centred care Inaccurate and inaccessible patient records C.difficile Patient Information
Recommendation age 11.3 yrs
Last formal update 3932 days ago