Duty of Candour Policy
Policy Statement
Stranraer Skills Station aims to provide the Best Quality of Service.
As part of this process, Stranraer Skills Station operates a Duty of Candour to ensure Open and Honest Communication between us, the providers of Care and Support, and the Individuals Receiving our Services.
Stranraer Skills Station realised that Trust and Effective Communication can be challenging to maintain and easy to lose when things go wrong.
The new organisational Duty of Candour underpins the Scottish Government’s commitment to Openness and Learning, which is vital to providing Safe, Effective, and Person-Centred Health and Social Care. This guidance focuses on implementing the legal Duty of Candour procedure for all organisations that provide health, care, or social work services in Scotland.
Stranraer Skills Station acknowledges that instances of poor practice can and do occur and should be rectified speedily, effectively, and as locally as possible. Therefore, Time and Resources must be put into Training Employees and Volunteers and informing Individuals about understanding and using all our procedures.
The organisational Duty and Candour provisions of the Health (Tobacco, Nicotine, etc. and Care) (Scotland) Act 2016 (The Act) and The Duty of Candour Procedure (Scotland) Regulations 2018 set out the procedures that organisations providing health services, care services and social work services in Scotland are required by law to follow when there has been an unintended or unexpected incident that results in death or harm (or additional treatment is necessary to prevent injury that would result in death or harm).
This policy and procedure are formulated in line with this guidance, have been agreed upon by Elaine McCourtney of Stranraer Skills Station, and are mandatory for all its services and projects.
This policy operates in conjunction with:
- Local Regulators Requirements
- Health and Social Care Standards
- General Data Protection Regulations
- Compliments and Complaints Procedure
- Grievance Procedure
- Disciplinary and Appeals Procedure
- Confidentiality Policy
- Protection of Vulnerable Adults from Abuse
- Child Protection
- Whistleblowing
- Care Inspectorate
- Duty of Candour Guidance
Introduction
General
Openness and Honesty should be central to the actions of those providing Care and Support to others. It should be at the Heart of Every Relationship between those providing, receiving, and/or experiencing Treatment, Care, and Support.
Trust and Effective Communication can be difficult to maintain and easy to lose when things have gone wrong.
This Duty and Candour Policy and Procedure underpins the Scottish Government’s commitment to Openness and Learning which is vital to the provision of Safe, Effective, and Person-Centered, Health and Social Care.
The overall purpose of the Duty of Candour is to ensure that Organisations are Open, Honest, and Supportive when there is an “unexpected or unintended incident resulting in harm or death”, as defined by the Act.
Alongside the legal requirements in following the Duty of Candour procedure outlines the issues Stranraer Skills Station wants to Consider at Each Point in the procedure; Suggests Best Practices; and Provides a Checklist of the steps to be taken to fulfill the duty.
In this policy, the word “Must” refers to actions that are a Legal Requirement as set out in the Duty of Candour Procedure Legislation.
The remainder of the Policy provides details of Best Practices in following arrangements for Notification, Discussion, Review, and Actions for Stranraer Skills Station when there has been an unintended or unexpected incident resulting in death or harm.
The guidance also includes several ‘Issues to Consider’ sections that outline areas to think about in Support of the Implementation of the organisational duty.
Every organisation covered by the Duty of Candour legislation is regarded as a “Responsible Person” with the definition as set out in section 25 of the Act.
A “Relevant Person” is the person who has been harmed during the incident, or where that person has died, or is, in the opinion of the Responsible Person, lacking in capacity or otherwise unable to make decisions about the service provided, a person acting on behalf of that person. This is set out in section 22(3) of the Act.
Duty of Candour Reports
Click the button below to view the Duty of Candour report.