Raising Concerns And Developing Openness, Including The Statutory Duty Of Candour

Venue: Hallam Conference Centre
44 Hallam Street
London
W1W 6JJ

Date: 25 Mar 2014

Synopsis: This conference focuses on raising, escalating and managing concerns, developing openness and implementing the duty of candour in your service. There is a focus on supporting and encouraging frontline staff to come forward with concerns and the conference includes an extended legal update session on raising concerns/whistleblowing and the duty of candour.

Details:
“The culture in the department gradually declined to the point where all of the staff were scared of the sisters and afraid to speak out against the poor standard of care” Mid Staffordshire Whistleblower Helene Donnelly Among the 290 recommendations in the The Francis Inquiry into Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust is that staff reporting of incidents of concerns is not only encouraged but insisted upon and that whistleblowers should get better protection. The Inquiry emphasised the importance of raising concerns, openness and called for a statutory Duty of Candour. In the response to the Francis Inquiry published on the 19th November 2013, Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Health accepted the Francis recommendations on these issues and stated that: “The response gives stronger professional responsibility also, making clear the need to be open about mistakes and candid about ‘near misses’… when things really go wrong, or on the rare occasions when leaders and boards fail to show the integrity we all expect, the response will enable failing hospitals to be turned around and puts in place proper accountability, and, when necessary, criminal sanctions.” Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Health, 19 November 2013 “The duty of candour is a further drive towards openness and transparency. We have set out in the Care Bill that in future, as a registration requirement with the Care Quality Commission, providers must be open with patients about care failings. We are working with the General medical Council, Nursing and Midwifery Council and other professional regulators to strengthen the references to candour in their work including clear guidance that professionals who seek to obstruct others in raising concerns or being candid would be in breach of their professional responsibilities. In addition, in April, the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 strengthened the position of whistleblowers so that an individual now has the right to expect their employer to take reasonable steps to prevent them suffering detriment from a co-worker as a result of blowing the whistle. As the regulator of health and care, the Care Quality Commission is using staff surveys and the whistleblowing concerns it receives as part of the data in its new intelligent monitoring system. This data will guide the Care Quality Commission about which hospitals to inspect. Since September the Care Quality Commission’s new inspection system includes discussions with hospitals about how they deal with, and handle, whistleblowers.” The Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust Public Inquiry: Government Response, 19 November 2013

URL:
http://www.healthcareconferencesuk.co.uk/raising-concerns-opennes-dutyofcandour

Contact:
Kerry Tarrant Healthcare Conferences UK 01932 429933 020 8181 6491 (fax) kerry@hc-uk.org.uk