Organisational duty of candour procedure: first year review

Evaluation of the first year of the organisational duty of candour procedure through analysis of the annual reports that were published by NHS territorial and special boards across Scotland.


3. Method

Between December 2019 and January 2020, NHS Boards' annual Duty of Candour Reports for 2018/2019 were reviewed and analysed. Primary care Duty of Candour reports were also analysed (including a sample of reported incidents), which involved  the work of the business support team to analyses, to collate and format a rolling inventory of primary care reports by territorial Board and incidents reported. 

3.1. Analysis of Annual Reports 

Duty of Candour Reports were initially analysed using a customised framework to map compliance with the Health (Tobacco, Nicotine etc. and Care) (Scotland) Act 2016 - Part 2, Section 24: Reporting and Monitoring, which governs what an annual Duty of Candour report should include. A quick-check mapping table of the 2018/19 Board reports can be seen in Appendix 5.

3.2. Interview Findings

Most NHS Boards responded positively to a request to interview their Duty of Candour named person lead, or another individual responsible for the roll-out of Duty of Candour reporting and training within their Board. Visits lasted between 1 and 4 hours and involved the Boards' Duty of Candour lead or named person responsible for the roll-out within their board. 

During these visits, their annual Duty of Candour reports were considered in more details, with particular focus on adherence to Part 2, Section 24 of the Health (Tobacco, Nicotine etc. and Care) (Scotland) Act 2016, as well as personal experiences and feedback. When requested follow-up questions were also emailed.

Contact

Email: dutyofcandour@gov.scot

Back to top