Open and honest about mistakes

摘要

From April, the NHS Commissioning Board will include a contractual duty of candour in all commissioning contracts. This means hospitals will be required to take an active role in telling patients if mistakes have been made. Chief executives of NHS organisations that commissioners deem are not being open could be required to apologise to patients in writing. My concern is that a duty of candour will be open to interpretation by both clinical commissioning groups and providers, and may not be used in the same way across the country.