Duty of candour and community nursing

Over the past few years, public inquiries into the Mid-Staffordshire NHS Trust and other health crises, including, most recently, the Hyponatraemia Inquiry (2018) in Northern Ireland, have led to the demand that any culture of secrecy and cover up in public health must be challenged. The result has been a focus on making candour in health mandatory. Candour is defined by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA, 2019) as ‘being open and transparent when something has gone wrong’. Currently, nurses are affected by professional and statutory duties of candour. This article tracks the development of those duties, unpicks the slightly different requirements of each duty and discusses some considerations about the future role of candour in dealing with fitness to practise concerns at the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). Additionally, it presents a commentary on the potential barriers and concerns for community nurses when complying with the duty.