The new staturory duty is one of a series of proposals from the Gvoernemnt in response to the Francis Report on the poor performance of the Mid Staffs NHS Trust.
Yesterday Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt told the Commons he will implement new Ofsted-style ratings for hospitals and care homes overseen by an Independent Chief Inspector of Hospitals and Chief Inspector of Social Care.
There will also be changes to the way nurses are trained a review by the NHS Confederation on how to reduce the bureaucratic burden on frontline staff.
“We need a radical overhaul with high quality care and compassion at its heart,” Mr Hunt said. “This is just the start of a fundamental change to the system.”
GMB, which represents hundreds of thousands of NHS workers, said it will “do everything we can to help fully implement the recommendations and will frankly point to stress factors that undermine the compassionate care needed in the NHS”.
Rehana Azam,
GMBNational Officer for the NHS, said:
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GMBwelcomed the report by Robert Francis QC which was thorough and its recommendations set out clear responsibilities for all those involved including addressing the systemic failures by institutions.
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GMBconsider that the introduction of a legal duty of candour demanded by the Report will potentially have a big impact.
“Such a duty would require the NHS to be honest when it makes a mistake.
“An institution’s role in this will be crucial as the need to create the environment to allow this honesty will require a culture change. The legally enforceable duty of candour will go some way towards changing the culture.
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GMBconsider that regulation and scrutiny of institutions will go some way in addressing the systemic failures that were outlined in the report.
“Focusing on targets and gaining Foundation Trust Status as many are expected to do cannot be at the cost of patient care.
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GMBand many others will meet with Robert Francis QC next month to initiate a dialogue so collectively we all work together and understand how best recommendations can be implemented.”
Jeremy Hunt said:
“The events at Stafford Hospital were a betrayal of the worst kind. A betrayal of the patients, of the families, and of the vast majority of NHS staff who do everything in their power to give their patients the high quality, compassionate care they deserve.
“I can pledge that every patient will be treated in a hospital judged on the quality of its care and the experience of its patients.
“They will be cared for in a place with a culture of zero harm, by highly trained staff with the right values and skills.
“And if something should go wrong, then those mistakes will be admitted, the patient told about them and steps taken to rectify them with proper accountability.”