Understanding the duty of candour
The importance of being candid is reflected in standard 8 of the HCPC’s standards of conduct, performance and ethics, which states:
8.1. You must be open, honest and candid when something has gone wrong with the care, treatment or other services that you provide, by:
– where applicable, alerting your employer of what has gone wrong and following the relevant internal procedures;
– informing service users and/or where appropriate carers, or where you do not have direct access to these individuals the lead clinician, that something has gone wrong;
– providing service users and/or carers with a detailed explanation of the circumstances in which things have gone wrong and the likely impact; and
– taking action to correct the mistake if possible and detailing this action to the service user and/or where appropriate, their carer.
Standards 7 and 8 also require you to deal with concerns and complaints appropriately and professionally. This involves personally reporting and escalating any safety concerns that they might have, as well as empowering and encouraging others to do the same.
Apologies are an important aspect of the duty of candour. Some registrants can worry that this may be seen as an admission of guilt and therefore negatively impact their career, which is not the case. Apologising will always be the right thing to do and our sanctions policy reiterates that apologies will not be seen as an admission of liability.
Read the standards of conduct, performance and ethics
Professional and organisational duty of candour
In addition to the professional duty of candour, organisations also have a duty to support their staff to be open and honest with service users when things have gone wrong and report adverse incidents. This is known as the organisational duty of candour, which has been implemented in different ways across the four UK countries and where some have made this a statutory duty. Remember that in addition to the HCPC standards, your employer may have policies relating to candour and openness that we would expect you to follow.
Video: what is the duty of candour
In this video, HCPC colleagues explore what the professional duty of candour is, where it came from and how it differs from the organisational duty of candour. We also look at the many benefits that candour can have for you, service users and the wider health and care service.
Please note this video was recorded in 2021. Since then, there have been updates to the HCPC standards of proficiency (2023), revisions to the HCPC standards of conduct, performance and ethics (2024) and there may have been changes to other external policies.
