Health and Social Care Bill

17: After Clause 6, insert the following new Clause— ““The Secretary of State’s duty to ensure openness and transparency with patients when things go wrong After section 1D of the National Health Service Act 2006 insert— ““1E Duty of candour when things go wrong The Secretary of State must act with a view to securing that any organisation registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide healthcare is required to take all reasonable steps to ensure that a patient or, in the event of death or incapacity, their next of kin, is fully informed about incidents which occur as a consequence of providing the regulated healthcare to that patient where the incident has resulted in— (a) any injury to a patient which, in the reasonable opinion of a health care professional, has resulted in— (i) an impairment of the sensory, motor or intellectual functions of the patient which is not likely to be temporary, (ii) changes to the structure of a patient’s body, (iii) the patient experiencing prolonged pain or prolonged psychological harm, or (iv) the significant shortening of the life expectancy of the patient; or (b) any injury to a patient which, in the reasonable opinion of a health care professional, requires treatment by that, or another, health care professional in order to prevent— (i) the death of the patient, or (ii) an injury to the patient which, if left untreated, would lead to one or more of the outcomes mentioned in paragraph (a).””””