Swann encourages public to respond to Duty of Candour consultation

Health Minister Robin Swann, has extended the deadline to allow for more key stakeholders and members of the public to respond to a consultation on a proposed duty of candour law for Northern Ireland.

Minister Swann said: “A number of bodies have requested an extension to the consultation period and I have agreed to move the closing date to the end of August to afford more opportunity, for anyone who wishes, to make comments on the proposals.

“In particular we would like to hear the views of members of the public. This is a very complex issue and the consultation is being held to make sure that we get it right. We want to receive as wide a range of views as possible.”

Legislation on a duty of candour was among the recommendations of Mr Justice O’Hara in his independent report on hyponatraemia-related deaths, which was published in January 2018. The consultation document was written by a working group of experts, including service users and carers.

The consultation, which commenced on 12 April, was scheduled to close on 2 August 2021, but the deadline for submission of responses is being extended until 31 August. It details proposals for legislation to ensure that health and social care organisations, and individuals who work for them, are open and honest about mistakes made in the course of treatment and care, so that there can be learning from those errors, which in turn will lead to continuous improvement in health and social care services here.

In addition to the main consultation document, which goes into a lot of detail, there is an “easy read” version of the document. It is entirely open to consultees to respond by means of the questionnaire provided, or in any other written format. It is not necessary to answer any or all of the questions. The Department will accept short, focused responses if members of the public simply wish to register their insights, experiences, evidence or opinions.

The documentation is available on the Department of Health website.

Notes to editors: 

1. The Duty of Candour and Being Open Workstream has taken on board all of the evidence, research and feedback from stakeholders to develop detailed proposals and options for a statutory Duty of Candour and Being Open guidance.

2. The IHRD report recommended the introduction of an organisational duty of candour for health and social care organisations,; and an individual duty of candour; both supported by criminal sanctions.

3. The 3 individual Duty of Candour policy proposals are:

• Implement the recommendation as written and introduce a statutory individual Duty of Candour, which would include a series of requirements in law that have to be adhered to by staff within its scope. Breach of these requirements would constitute a criminal offence.
• Alternative Proposal (a) – Statutory individual Duty of Candour without criminal sanction for breach
• Alternative Proposal (b) – Statutory individual Duty of Candour without criminal sanction for breach, and separate criminal offence for withholding information, destroying or tampering with information, or providing false or misleading information.

Being Open Framework

A policy framework for developing Being Open guidance at the following levels:

• Routine Openness
• Openness to promote learning
• Candour when something has gone wrong and significant harm or death has been caused

4. The IHRD report

Between 1995-2001 five children tragically died in hospitals in Northern Ireland as a result of hyponatraemia related illnesses.

The Inquiry into Hyponatraemia Related Deaths was set up to investigate the deaths of these children and it published its findings on 31 January 2018.

The Inquiry found that some of the five deaths were avoidable and it also concluded that the culture of the health service at the time, the arrangements in place to ensure the quality of services and the behaviour of individuals had all contributed to those unnecessary deaths.

The report sets out 96 recommendations across 10 themes where Mr Justice O’Hara identified failings in -

• competency in fluid management;
• honesty in reporting;
• professionalism in investigation
• focus in leadership;
• and respect for parental involvement

5. For media enquiries please contact DoH Press Office by email: pressoffice@health-ni.gov.uk
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