Hospital prosecuted in first-ever case for 'lack of candour' after woman's death

An NHS trust is to appear in court today charged with breaking the law on being open and transparent after a woman’s death in the first ever court case of its kind.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has brought a criminal prosecution against University Hospitals Plymouth Trust which will appear at Plymouth Magistrates Court tomorrow morning.

The trust is charged with breaching the duty of candour regulations under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 which require hospitals to be honest with families and patients after a safety incident or error in their care. Hospitals are legally required to notify patients or families and investigate what has happened and communicate the findings to families and offer an apology.

The case relates to how the Plymouth trust communicated with a woman’s family after her death which happened after she underwent an endoscopy procedure at Derriford Hospital in December 2017.

The trust was required by law to communicate in an open and transparent way. The CQC has accused the trust of failing to do this.

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Source: The Independent, 22 September 2020