CPD-AccreditedCertified byThe CPD Certification Service, UK
Duty of Candour Course for Healthcare Professionals
CPD course for every UK healthcare professional facing a candour complaint, allegation or investigation — and for your CPD
Which of these is your situation?
- Duty of candour course for healthcare professionals — an allegation or investigation about not being open when something went wrong?
- Facing an allegation of a failure of candour from a patient, a colleague, an employer or your regulator?
- Under a fitness to practise investigation and asked to show insight and remediation?
- Told the patient late, or only once the complaint arrived?
- Told them part of it, and the rest came out from the records or from someone else?
- An apology that was not one — “sorry you feel that way”, or an explanation offered in place of regret?
- Assumed someone else had the conversation, or an incident that was never reported internally?
- Notes written after the fact, or a conversation that appears nowhere in the record?
- Preparing for a hearing, applying for restoration, or building your CPD before a concern arises?
- Looking for a CPD accredited duty of candour course that a panel will recognise as remediation?
This course is written for every one of these — and for your CPD.
Help with a candour complaint, allegation or investigation starts here. For Doctors, Dentists, Nurses, Midwives, Pharmacists and all other Healthcare Professionals facing a concern raised with the GMC, GDC, NMC, GPhC, HCPC, GOC, GCC, GOsC or Social Work England. Written for allegations about not telling a patient something went wrong, telling them late or only part of it, and an apology that was not one. This course helps you address the concern — and demonstrate the remediation, with a dated certificate for your written response, your portfolio or a hearing.
Dr Shehzad IqbalFounder, course author and facilitatorMBBS, MRCS, MRCGP
Ludmila UpenieceBusiness development and supportPsychology, UEL London
Who This Course is For
Accused of not being open when something went wrong
The allegation is that you didn't tell someone, or told them late, or told them less than the whole of it. This is the course that speaks directly to that.
Something has just gone wrong
You need to have the conversation and you're not sure what to say, how much to say, or how soon. Start here — timing is one of the few things still in your control.
Under fitness to practise investigation
A case is open with the GMC, GDC, NMC, GPhC, HCPC, GOC, GCC, GOsC or Social Work England and you need documented CPD and written reflection to put behind your response.
The incident was never reported internally
The conversation with the patient may have happened, but the incident went unreported, or a colleague was left to raise it. That's the same duty, and it's examined separately.
Leading or supervising a team
Section 5 is about culture: why people stay quiet, and what a team looks like where they don't.
The Concerns This Course Speaks To
Delay
The conversation happened, but weeks later, or only once the complaint arrived. How to account for a delay honestly rather than explaining it away.
Partial disclosure
Something was said, but not the whole of it — and the rest emerged later from the records or from someone else.
The apology that was not one
“I'm sorry you feel that way”, defensive framing, or an explanation offered in place of regret.
Assuming someone else did it
In a team, everyone can believe the conversation was had by somebody else. The duty is on you to make sure it happened.
Near misses
Where nothing reached the patient. What the professional duty asks of you, and where it differs from the organisational one.
Records that do not match
Notes written after the fact, or a discussion that appears nowhere. Documentation is what makes a candid conversation provable.
What This Duty Of Candour Course For Healthcare Professionals Covers
Six sections and 25 lessons, with a reflective quiz closing each of the first five sections and a post-course assessment at the finish.
Understanding the duty of candour
What it is, why it matters, when it applies, candour in everyday practice, and its ethical foundations.
Professional guidance from regulators
The expectations shared across the healthcare professions, and what follows when the duty is breached.
Being open when things go wrong
Six lessons and the practical core: responding openly, why timeliness matters, how to structure a candid conversation, apologising without blame, reassurance without false promises, and the everyday openings many people miss.
Reflection and insight after an incident
Why reflection matters here specifically, what makes it insightful rather than descriptive, and how it feeds remediation.
Team culture and leadership
Candour as a team responsibility, the barriers that keep people quiet, and embedding a candour-supportive culture.
Summary and assessment
Certificate issued on completion.
How this helps if a concern about candour has been raised
A clinical mistake, acknowledged and remediated, can be survivable. The same mistake concealed, minimised, or disclosed only once someone else raised it, becomes a question about your honesty — and honesty allegations attract the most serious sanctions available.
That is why the written response matters. A reflection that names the clause of your standards engaged, sets out why you did not speak sooner and shows what has changed answers the concern. One that explains the incident without addressing the silence that followed answers a question nobody asked.
On completion you receive a CPD certificate recording the course title, the CPD hours and the date — with your written reflection, evidence for a fitness to practise response, a remediation portfolio, an appraisal folder or a revalidation submission. For courses written to your own regulator’s standards, see courses by regulator.
Read the regulators’ own guidance: Candour: openness and honesty when things go wrong ↗ The 2014 joint statement from eight regulators ↗ The professional duty, in full ↗
Guides for a candour concern
Read these before you respond. Each one covers a stage of the process and names the courses for it.
Ready to start? Written for professionals answering a concern about openness. Instant access, 2 CPD hours, certificate on completion.
Buy this course — £79.00Who Wrote It
Dr Iqbal has designed and delivered ethics, probity and professionalism remediation courses for UK healthcare professionals since 2020, working with registrants of all nine UK healthcare regulators, online and face to face. He combines clinical practice with formal postgraduate training in healthcare law and ethics.
What Is the Duty of Candour, and Whose Duty Is It?
There are two duties and they're commonly confused. The professional duty sits on you and comes from your regulator: be open and honest with a patient when something goes wrong with their treatment or care that causes, or could cause, harm or distress. The statutory duty sits on organisations and comes from legislation, which differs by nation — England since 2014, Scotland since 2018, Wales since April 2023, and Northern Ireland still without a general one.
The practical consequence is the one people miss: your employer discharging its duty does not discharge yours. If you were the professional involved, the professional duty was still yours, in all four nations and in independent practice as much as in the NHS. That gap is exactly what a case examiner looks for — and it's exactly what “my employer handled it” gets wrong, below.
What These Candour Terms Mean
The terms a regulator will use about a candour concern, and what each one means in practice. The first two are explained in full above.
Professional duty of candour
The duty on you as an individual registrant to be open and honest with a patient when something goes wrong; see “What Is the Duty of Candour, and Whose Duty Is It?” above.
Statutory duty of candour
The duty on organisations, created by legislation and differing by nation — England since 2014 (Care Quality Commission), Scotland since 2018, Wales since April 2023, Northern Ireland without a general statutory duty though the Being Open Framework has applied there since 1 April 2026; see “What Is the Duty of Candour” above.
Apology
An expression of regret that something has happened. Regulators state directly that it is not an admission of legal liability or of personal fault, and an early apology is among the things most likely to prevent a concern escalating.
Near miss
An incident with the potential to reach a patient that did not. Internal reporting is expected so a service can learn before harm occurs; whether the patient is told is a judgement to be made and recorded.
Being open
The wider expectation that openness runs through everyday practice rather than switching on after a serious incident: raising concerns, reporting incidents, and telling people what happened before they have to ask.
Openness with colleagues and regulators
The half of the duty people forget — being open with colleagues, your employer and your regulator, and not preventing anyone else from raising a concern; see “The Half of the Duty That Is Not About the Patient” below.
Insight
Understanding what went wrong, why it happened, and the effect it had on the person on the other side of it. In a candour case it also means identifying why you didn't speak sooner, rather than only why the incident occurred.
Remediation
The concrete steps taken so the same thing does not happen again — training, changes to how you escalate, record and communicate, supervision — together with evidence that they happened and have been sustained.
What the Professional Duty Requires
Four things, whenever something goes wrong with treatment or care that causes, or has the potential to cause, harm or distress. Not three, and not “when asked.”
Tell them
The patient, or where appropriate their advocate, carer or family. Promptly, and without waiting to be asked or for an investigation to conclude.
Apologise
An expression of regret that this has happened. Regulators say directly that an apology is not an admission of legal liability, and saying sorry early is one of the few things most likely to stop a concern escalating.
Offer a remedy
An appropriate remedy or support to put matters right, where that's possible — practical as well as clinical, and offered rather than waited for.
Explain the effects
Fully, covering both the short and the long term consequences of what has happened. This is the step often skipped, and its absence is what makes an otherwise adequate conversation look partial afterwards.
The Half of the Duty That Is Not About the Patient
The joint statement asks for three further things, and they're the ones that go missing from written responses. A good conversation with the patient doesn't answer any of them.
Be open with colleagues and your employer
Including relevant organisations, and taking part in reviews and investigations when you're asked to. An incident discussed with the patient but never reported internally leaves the obvious question open.
Be open with your regulator, and raise concerns
Openness runs upwards as well as outwards. Where something needs raising, raising it is part of the duty rather than an optional extra.
Support others in doing the same
Encourage colleagues to be open, and never discourage or prevent someone from raising a concern. Obstruction is treated far more seriously than the incident that prompted it.
Frequently Asked Questions
My employer handled it. Doesn't that discharge the duty?
No. The statutory duty sits on organisations; the professional duty sits on you as an individual registrant, and one doesn't discharge the other. If you were the professional involved, the professional duty was still yours — that gap is exactly what a case examiner looks for.
The incident has already happened and I did not say anything at the time. Is it too late?
No, but late is worse than prompt, and how you account for the delay matters. Being open now, honestly acknowledging why it didn't happen sooner, and documenting it from this point forward is a materially better position than staying silent because the moment has passed.
Does apologising mean admitting liability?
No. Regulators state directly that an apology — an expression of regret that something has happened — is not an admission of legal liability or of personal fault. An early apology is among the things most likely to prevent a concern escalating.
Which regulators does this apply to?
All of them. The professional duty of candour was set out in a 2014 joint statement from eight UK healthcare regulators and appears in the GMC, GDC, NMC, GPhC, HCPC, GOC, GCC and GOsC's own standards, as well as Social Work England's — this is one of the few standards genuinely common across every UK healthcare regulator.
What if speaking up is difficult where I work?
The duty doesn't depend on how easy your workplace makes it, but a difficult culture is itself worth naming in your reflection rather than working around silently. Section 5 covers why teams stay quiet and what a candour-supportive culture looks like, including for people who aren't in a position to lead it.
The incident has already happened and I did not say anything at the time. Is it too late?
No, and this is one of the common situations the course addresses. A late candid conversation is better than none, and how you account for the delay matters. A response that explains what you now understand, what you have changed, and why the delay happened will read very differently from silence — but take advice from your indemnity provider before making contact.
What does the duty require of me towards colleagues and my regulator?
More than many people realise, and it is the half of the duty that rarely appears in a written response. Alongside telling the patient, you are expected to be open and honest with colleagues, with your employer and with your regulator when something goes wrong, to report incidents and near misses through the proper route, and not to prevent or discourage anyone else from raising a concern. A response that describes a good conversation with the patient but is silent on whether the incident was reported internally leaves an obvious question open.
What if speaking up is difficult where I work?
It is a common reason people give, and on its own it is treated as an explanation rather than an answer. Fear of blame, hierarchy, workload and a culture where incidents are handled quietly are all real, and section 5 of the course is about exactly that. What a regulator assesses is what you did in spite of it, and what has changed since — which is why naming the barrier honestly and then showing the step you took anyway reads as insight, where naming it alone reads as a defence.
Will completing this course resolve my fitness to practise case?
No. No course, from us or from anyone else, determines the outcome of a fitness to practise matter. What a course can do is help you build the insight and reflection your response needs, and give you a verifiable certificate to evidence it. Your indemnity provider, defence organisation or a specialist regulatory adviser should advise on your own case.
Related Courses
Honesty and integrity more widely — the category a failure of candour is usually assessed under.
What fitness to practice means, how the process works, and what's assessed at each stage — directly relevant if a case is already open.
Restoring confidence after a concern — the natural next step once remediation is underway.
The element a panel assesses in every case, whatever the allegation, and the one a response is read for.
What fitness to practise means, how the process works, and what is being assessed at each stage.
Find courses written to your own regulator’s standards →
Start Your Remediation Today, Finish at Your Own Pace
Instant access on purchase. Certificate on completion, CPD certified by The CPD Certification Service — written for healthcare professionals across every UK regulator.
Buy this course — £79.00 Bulk buy — any 3, 5 or 10 courses