AQW 47995/11-15

Mr Stewart Dickson
Alliance Party
East Antrim

Tabled Date: 30/06/2015
Answered On Date: 25/08/2015
Priority Written: Yes

Question:
To ask the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety whether a professional duty of candour exists for Health Service staff, as has been introduced by the Department of Health in England; and if it not, whether his Department intends to introduce such a duty.

Answer:

Individual doctors and nurses already operate under a duty of candour as part of the conditions of their professional registration. This will soon be extended to other registered health professionals.

Work has begun on the introduction of a statutory duty of candour for Northern Ireland and I expect a consultation to issue later in the year. Once the policy is agreed, the relevant legislation will be put in place to set the duty on a statutory footing.

The duty in Northern Ireland will, like other UK jurisdictions, apply at organisational level.