This paper explores how UK professional regulators have attempted to encourage healthcare professionals to be open and transparent when something has gone wrong in the care they or someone else have provided. This is known as the professional duty of candour. The paper looks at what progress has been made since 2014 when the regulators published their joint statement on candour encouraging their registrants to be candid; and in enforcing the professional duty of candour through fitness to practise processes.
This paper is focused on the candour of professionals to those in their care and their families when a mistake has been made. It does not look at whistleblowing, which is when an individual reports workplace concerns about unsafe care or wrongdoing. However, there is an overlap between the two and they are both affected by similar factors, so there may be learning from this paper for whistleblowing.
CAIPE responded to this consultation.