Oonagh McClure

Northern Ireland’s Department of Health recently held a consultation on both its draft ‘Being Open’ framework, which aims to establish a culture of honesty and openness in healthcare, and the establishment of a statutory duty of candour.

A similar statutory duty exists in England and Wales and in Scotland, and is comparable to the mandatory open disclosure law south of the border.

The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) says that legislation is necessary to ensure that healthcare staff are always be open and honest with patients and families when there are safety failures during treatment.

Oonagh McClure, APIL’s Northern Ireland representative, said: “Introducing a ‘duty of candour’ law would mean clinicians, managers and senior leaders have a clear statutory obligation to be transparent when negligent treatment has happened.

“A duty of candour law in operation would mean all staff are legally required to be forthright when patients have been the victims of sub-standard care. All too often patients suffer further anguish when they are left in the dark as to what went wrong when they suffer harm.

“A candour law would ensure patient safety is at the centre of health care. And if negligent treatment occurred a legal requirement to be frank means lessons can be learned and avoidable suffering is not repeated.

“The Northern Ireland Inquiry into Hyponatraemia Related Deaths, which found some deaths were due to avoidable medical errors and a flawed healthcare culture, recommended a candour law back in 2018, but nothing came of it. It’s time to act.”

She added: “We support introducing the [Being Open] framework but it must be accompanied by a candour law, because without statutory enforcement the framework lacks teeth.

“The proposals being discussed at present are an opportunity to make a real positive difference to patient safety and improve the experiences of injured patients who deserve answers.”