A member of Cambridge University Health Partners

Duty of CandourBeing open and honest with our patients, their families and carers

October 2017

Information leaflet for patients, relatives and carers

Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)

If you have any concerns about any of CPFT's services, or would like more information please contact: Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) on freephone 0800 376 0775 or e-mailpals@cpft.nhs.uk

Out-of-hours’ service for CPFT service users

Please call NHS 111, option 2, if you feel you are in a mental health crisis.

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The CQC is the independent regulator of health and adult social care organisations in England and is responsible for monitoring compliance with standards such as the duty ofcandour.

The CQC has legal powers to take action against organisations who do not comply.

T 03000 61 61 61 www.cqc.org.uk

You can find the full regulations themselves and the CQC guidance for organisations on howto comply at: www.cqc.org.uk/duty-candour

Care Quality Commission (CQC)

You have been given this leaflet to explain what Duty of Candour means and how Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT) is complying with the regulatory requirements for the care provided to you or your relative.

Why have I been given this leaflet?

CPFT has been committed to being open and honest with patients, families and carers sincethe regulation came into force in November 2014 and our staff work hard to support them inthis process. Duty of Candour is a regulation of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 that came into force in November 2014 which meansthat all NHS Trusts and providers of regulated health and social care have a legal and moralresponsibility to be open and honest with their patients, service users, carers and familieswhen things go wrong.

What is Duty of Candour?

If CPFT, or any organisation registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC), fails to comply with the Duty of Candour, the CQC can take regulatory action. In very serious or persistent. In very serious cases, this could result in prosecution.

What happens if an NHS organisation does not comply?

It is important that you give us your full name, address, date of birth and contact information when making your complaint, as this information is needed to help us to investigate your complaint. When sending in your complaint, please provide as much detailas you can and tell us everything you are concerned about.

If you wish to discuss your concerns, please call the Complaints Team on:

Freephone 0800 052 1411

The complaints process is available to you and is not affected by the Duty of Candour process.

Can I complain?

Healthcare is very complex and things can change very quickly and unexpectedly.Occasionally, things do not go to plan and a patient can be harmed despite our best intentions and efforts. We investigate every case of harm to our patients to ensure we learnand where possible prevent similar things happening again.

Why do things go wrong?

Duty of Candour is a formal requirement to be open and honest with patients if they havesuffered harm. This means that if you have suffered any unexpected or unintended harmduring your care we will:

Speak to you, your family and/or carer to discuss what happened, providing a full and•true account of all known facts, and offer an apology. Provide information about the investigation process and inform you, your family and/or•carer of support services you may wish to contact.Carry out an appropriate level of investigation.•Share the findings of the investigation with you, your family and/or carers.•Answer questions you, your family and/or carer may have•

What can I expect?

Duty of Candour applies to significant incidents involving a service user which has resulted in:

The death of a patient •Moderate harm - where there has been significant harm and a moderate increase in •treatment, but not permanent harm.Severe harm - there has been permanent reduction of health or functional ability that is•related directly to the incident. Prolonged psychological harm is psychological harm experienced or is likely to be experienced for a continuous period of at least 28 days, forexample, a traumatic treatment leading to acute anxiety and depression for a prolongedperiod.

What incidents are affected by Duty of Candour?