Duty of Candour: The duty of candour requires providers to be open and transparent when something goes wrong, and to tell the person affected as soon as reasonably practicable, apologise, explain what is known, and follow up in writing.
It is a legal obligation on the organisation, not a discretionary courtesy, and it is triggered by a notifiable safety incident rather than by whether anyone has complained.
The written follow-up matters as much as the conversation. It should record what was said, what is known so far, what further enquiries will be made, and it should repeat the apology. Providers are expected to keep a record of having done all of this.
An apology under the duty of candour is an expression of sorrow or regret for what happened. Saying sorry is not an admission of legal liability, and treating it as one is a common reason providers delay and fall into breach.