Medical Council · NMBI · Dental Council · PSI · CORU · Complaint or fitness to practise inquiry
Duty of Candour for Healthcare Professionals when you face a complaint to your regulator or a fitness to practise inquiry about openness after something went wrong
Something went wrong, and the complaint is about what you said afterwards — or did not say.
- Disclosure — an error or an adverse event not explained to the patient, or explained late
- Apology — no apology, or one that was conditional or defensive
- Near miss — a near miss or an unexpected outcome the patient was not told about
- Records — a note altered after the event, or the disclosure conversation not recorded
- Complaint response — a reply that minimised the event, deflected blame or contradicted the record
- Team — an error not raised with colleagues, or a risk left out of a handover
- Remote care — something not disclosed in a phone or video consultation
- Any other concern — about your honesty or openness after an incident
Facing a complaint or a fitness to practise inquiry about candour — before the Medical Council, NMBI, the Dental Council, the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland or CORU?
This course is for a healthcare professional whose openness after an error, an adverse event or a complaint has been questioned. This course helps you remediate — and show the remediation, with a dated certificate for your written response, your reflection, an undertaking or an inquiry.
| Courses | Price per course | You save |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | €100 | No saving |
| 2 | €88 | €25 |
| 3 | €83 | €50 |
| 5 | €80 | €100 |
| 10 | €70 | €300 |
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Immediate access · certificate on completion · twelve months' access
- 2 CPD hours
- Self-paced
- Written for Ireland
- CPD certificate
- From €70 a course (Bulk Buy of 10)
Dr Shehzad IqbalFounder, course author and facilitatorMBBS, MRCS, MRCGP
Dr Mo MirzaCourse facilitatorMedically trained, UCL London
Ludmila UpenieceBusiness development and supportPsychology, UEL London
At a glance
- Who it is for
- Any healthcare professional in Ireland facing a complaint, a serious incident review, a preliminary decision or a fitness to practise inquiry about disclosure, apology, honesty or records after something went wrong
- Regulator covered
- Applies to practitioners registered with the Medical Council, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI), the Dental Council, the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (PSI) or CORU
- Length
- 8 sections, 53 lessons, 2 CPD hours
- Format
- Self-paced, online, immediate access, twelve months from purchase
- Certificate
- Certificate issued by Healthcare Ethics Courses on completion, dated, with the course title and 2 CPD hours
- Price
- €100 · from €70 a course (Bulk Buy of 10)
Certificate issued by Healthcare Ethics CoursesRemediation courses for regulatory processes.
The certificate you will receive
How healthcare professionals use it
- With a written response to your regulator or its preliminary committee, alongside a reflection
- When an undertaking or a consent is discussed, or in your evidence to an inquiry committee
- As a dated record of remediation for the regulator when sanction is considered
Who this course is for
Told you were not open with a patient
A patient or a family says they were not told what happened, or were told late or only in part. Sections 3 and 4 cover when candour applies — adverse events, near misses, delays and system failures — and how the conversation should be prepared, held and followed up.
Asked for an account in an incident review
Your employer is reviewing an adverse event, and you have been asked for a statement or an interview. Section 5 covers candour in internal reviews and serious incident investigations: truthful and complete accounts, cooperation, and records left as they were written.
Facing a complaint to your regulator
The Medical Council, NMBI, the Dental Council, the PSI or CORU has written to tell you of a complaint. Your first written reply is where your candour is first read, and the course gives it a structure you can follow under pressure.
Facing an allegation of professional misconduct
The allegation is about what followed the error as well as the error: a concealment, a misleading account, a record changed. The course treats a lack of candour as a concern in its own right (Sections 1 and 2), and covers the response that answers it (Section 6).
Facing a fitness to practise inquiry
The complaint has gone to a Fitness to Practise Committee, a Professional Conduct Committee or a Health Committee. Remediation completed before the hearing, dated and documented, is evidence you can put before the committee and the regulator.
Under an undertaking, conditions or a sanction
An undertaking you have given, conditions on your registration or a sanction may ask you to show what you have done to address the concern. The certificate is dated and records 2 CPD hours, and the course shows the other evidence that sits beside it.
The concerns this course speaks to
Disclosure after an adverse event
Harm, or the risk of it, and the patient not told. Section 3 covers the situations that call for candour — errors, delays, unexpected complications, communication failures and system failures — and Section 4 the conversation: timing, preparation, who leads it, and a clear account of what is known.
The apology
No apology for fear of liability, or one that said if you feel upset or but this was unavoidable. Section 1 covers an apology as an expression of empathy and regret, not an automatic admission of fault, and Section 4 the wording of an apology that is sincere and unqualified.
Near misses and uncertainty
An error caught before harm, or a cause still under review. Section 3 covers when a near miss should be disclosed, and how to explain what is known while a review is ongoing, without speculating.
Records after the event
A note altered after the event, a disclosure conversation not recorded. Section 2 covers records that are truthful and contemporaneous and never altered to conceal an error, and Section 4 what to record after a candour conversation: what was said, the apology, who was present and the next steps.
Written responses and reviews
A complaint reply that minimised the event or contradicted the notes. Section 5 covers candour in written responses, internal reviews and regulatory investigations, and the pitfalls that undermine it: delay, partial disclosure, inconsistent explanations and a defensive tone.
Candour within the team
An error kept from colleagues, a handover that left a risk unsaid, a junior colleague told someone else would deal with it. Section 7 covers honesty with colleagues about errors and near misses, escalation, handover, and a culture in which concerns can be raised.
Candour in remote and digital care
A video consultation in which a problem was noticed and not raised. Section 7 covers candour in digital and remote practice, in routine encounters and at handover.
Insight and remediation
A response that described the event but not its effect, or promised change without evidence. Section 6 covers reflection, insight and remediation in candour cases, the evidence a regulator reads, and weak and strong responses side by side.
Facing a complaint to your regulator or a fitness to practise inquiry? This course helps you remediate — and show it.
Buy this course — €100 (€70 with Bulk Buy 10)What the course covers
Eight sections and 53 lessons, with a reflective quiz closing each of the first seven and a post-course assessment at the end.
Understanding Duty of Candour in Irish Healthcare Practice
Seven lessons
Regulatory Expectations and Professional Standards on Duty of Candour in Ireland
Seven lessons
When Duty of Candour Applies in Practice
Six lessons
Communicating with Patients and Families Following Adverse Events
Ten lessons
Duty of Candour During Complaints, Reviews, and Investigations
Seven lessons
Reflection, Insight, and Remediation in Duty of Candour
Seven lessons
Applying Duty of Candour to Everyday Clinical Practice
Seven lessons
Conclusion and Key Takeaways
Two lessons, Conclusion and Key Takeaways, and the post-course assessment
Show every lesson title
- Section 01 · Understanding Duty of Candour in Irish Healthcare Practice
- Defining Duty of Candour in Healthcare; Candour as a Core Element of Professionalism; Ethical Principles Underpinning Duty of Candour; Duty of Candour and Patient Expectations; Apologies, Honesty, and Professional Risk; Individual and Shared Responsibility for Candour; Common Barriers to Candour in Practice.
- Section 02 · Regulatory Expectations and Professional Standards on Duty of Candour in Ireland
- Duty of Candour as a Regulatory Expectation; Core Regulatory Principles Underpinning Candour; Expectations of Irish Healthcare Regulators; Open Disclosure in Law: the Patient Safety (Notifiable Incidents and Open Disclosure) Act 2023; Candour During Complaints and Investigations; Documentation, Records, and Candour; Candour as Evidence of Insight and Professionalism.
- Section 03 · When Duty of Candour Applies in Practice
- Situations That Trigger Duty of Candour; Adverse Events and Harm; Near Misses and Potential Harm; System Failures and Shared Responsibility; Uncertainty and Ongoing Investigations; Candour Across Different Practice Settings.
- Section 04 · Communicating with Patients and Families Following Adverse Events
- Why Communication Is Central to Duty of Candour; Core Principles Guiding Candour Conversations; Timing of Communication; Preparing for a Candour Discussion; Who Should Lead and Attend the Conversation; Explaining What Happened Clearly; Apologies and Expressions of Regret; Managing Emotional Responses; Providing Ongoing Support; Documentation of Candour Communication.
- Section 05 · Duty of Candour During Complaints, Reviews, and Investigations
- Why Candour Matters During Complaints and Investigations; Responding to Patient Complaints with Candour; Written Responses: Professional Standards; Candour in Internal Reviews and Serious Incident Investigations; Candour in Regulatory Investigations; Insight, Reflection, and Remediation; Common Pitfalls During Complaints and Investigations.
- Section 06 · Reflection, Insight, and Remediation in Duty of Candour
- Why Reflection, Insight, and Remediation Matter; Reflection: Honest and Structured Self-Examination; Insight: Understanding Seriousness and Responsibility; Remediation: Turning Learning into Action; Evidence: Demonstrating Candour to Regulators; Weak vs Strong Responses in Candour Cases; Integrating Candour into Professional Identity.
- Section 07 · Applying Duty of Candour to Everyday Clinical Practice
- Candour as a Daily Professional Habit; Candour in Routine Clinical Encounters; Candour Within Healthcare Teams; Candour, Handover, and Continuity of Care; Candour in Documentation and Records; Candour in Digital and Remote Practice; Supporting a Culture of Candour.
- Section 08 · Conclusion and Key Takeaways
- Conclusion; Key Takeaways.
How to show candour in a response to a complaint or fitness to practise inquiry
Whether it is read at the preliminary stage, by an inquiry committee or by the regulator deciding a sanction, a response about candour is itself a test of candour. These are the four parts to set out, and what the course gives you for each.
A response about a failure to be open has to be open itself: complete, consistent with the record, and plain.
- What happened, and when the patient was toldThe event, the disclosure and its timing, consistent with the record.Sections 3 and 4 cover when candour applies and how the disclosure conversation should go.
- The apologySincere and unqualified, for the harm or the distress.Section 4 covers the wording of an apology, and Section 1 why an apology is not an automatic admission of fault.
- InsightWhy the openness was missing, and its effect on the patient and on trust.Section 6 covers insight into seriousness, responsibility and impact.
- What has changedTargeted, sustained and verifiable.Section 6 covers remediation and the evidence regulators read — and this course is a dated item for it.
An explanation that defends the decision before it acknowledges the distress reads as a defence, not as candour.
Take advice from your indemnifier, your union or professional body, or a solicitor before you respond to anyone.
Facing a complaint to your regulator or a fitness to practise inquiry? This course helps you remediate — and show it.
Buy this course — €100 (€70 with Bulk Buy 10)How this course helps with a complaint or fitness to practise inquiry
Open disclosure is now the law
The Patient Safety (Notifiable Incidents and Open Disclosure) Act 2023 commenced on 26 September 2024, apart from section 68. CORU says it applies to all public and private health services and staff, and that for a notifiable incident open disclosure must happen within 24 to 48 hours. The Dental Council says the next revision of its Code, expected in 2027–28, will add Open Disclosure Framework requirements. Section 2 of the course has a lesson on the Act: the services it applies to, the notifiable incidents in its Schedule 1, the health services provider’s duty to disclose and the practitioner’s duty to inform the provider, the disclosure meeting and the apology, and the protection in section 10. The rest of the course is about the professional duty that the Act does not replace — the conversation, the apology, the record and the response afterwards; for what the Act requires in your service, ask your employer or your adviser.
Openness after an error is weighed
The NMBI Code asks nurses and midwives to “act immediately and report any error, unsafe behaviour or unethical conduct”, and the Medical Council’s Guide expects doctors to raise concerns about colleagues’ practice where patient safety or care is being compromised. At sanction, the Medical Council’s Guidance on Sanctions counts “an apology to anyone affected at an early stage” as evidence of insight, and NMBI’s Guidance on Sanctions lists acknowledgement and early admission among mitigating factors. For the stages from the first letter to the High Court, see the fitness to practise process in Ireland, explained.
Read the primary sources
- S.I. 482/2024 — commencement of the Patient Safety (Notifiable Incidents and Open Disclosure) Act 2023
- Open disclosure — CORU
- Code of Practice regarding Professional Behaviour and Ethical Conduct — Dental Council of Ireland
- Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics for Registered Nurses and Registered Midwives (2025) — NMBI
- Guide to Professional Conduct and Ethics for Registered Medical Practitioners, 9th edition — Medical Council
- Guidance on Sanctions Imposed by the Medical Council (28 May 2024)
- Guidance on Sanctions — Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland
Who wrote it
Dr Shehzad Iqbal
Course author and facilitator, Healthcare Ethics Ireland
Dr Iqbal wrote this course. He combines clinical practice with a formal postgraduate qualification in healthcare law and ethics, and has worked with registrants across the regulated health professions, online and face to face, since 2020.
He founded Probity & Ethics in the United Kingdom in 2020 and Healthcare Ethics Courses, which issues the certificates, in 2025. More about us.
MBBS · MRCS · MRCGP · Postgraduate Certificate in Healthcare Law and Ethics, University of Dundee
Written and reviewed by Dr Shehzad Iqbal. Last reviewed .
In short
Duty of Candour for Healthcare Professionals is a two-hour, self-paced remediation course for healthcare professionals in Ireland — registered with the Medical Council, NMBI, the Dental Council, the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland or CORU — whose openness after an error, an adverse event or a complaint has been questioned. It defines the duty of candour and the ethical principles behind it; sets out regulators’ expectations of honesty, records and engagement with complaints, and the open disclosure the Patient Safety (Notifiable Incidents and Open Disclosure) Act 2023 requires of health services providers; covers when the duty applies — adverse events, near misses, system failures and uncertainty; how to communicate with patients and families after an adverse event, from preparation and apology to ongoing support and documentation; candour during complaints, internal reviews and regulatory investigations; reflection, insight and remediation; and candour in everyday practice, within teams, at handover and online. Eight sections, the first seven closing with a reflective quiz, a post-course assessment, and a dated certificate from Healthcare Ethics Courses. It is remediation and dated evidence of it; it decides no complaint, and it is not a substitute for advice from your indemnifier, your union or professional body, or a solicitor.
What the duty of candour means in practice
Candour is openness, honesty and transparency when care does not go as intended — whether the harm is actual or potential, and whatever the cause. The course applies it beyond major adverse events: to errors and near misses, unexpected outcomes, delays and omissions, breakdowns in communication and system failures. The question it asks is not who was at fault but whether the patient would reasonably expect to be told.
It treats candour as a professional duty that goes beyond any legal formality: an apology that expresses regret without admitting liability, an honest account of what is known and what is not, a record of the conversation, and openness with colleagues and in every review that follows.
In a written response, say when the patient was told, what they were told, and what you would do differently now.
What these words mean
The three terms that decide where a complaint goes, and the words the course is built on.
- Preliminary Proceedings Committee
- The committee of the Medical Council, NMBI, the PSI and CORU that looks at a complaint before any inquiry: it may take no further action, suggest mediation, conclude the matter with an undertaking or a consent where its Act allows, or refer the complaint to an inquiry. Under the Dentists Act the Fitness to Practise Committee considers whether there is a prima facie case.
- Fitness to practise inquiry
- The hearing stage: before the Fitness to Practise Committee at the Medical Council, NMBI and the Dental Council, and before the Professional Conduct Committee or the Health Committee at the PSI and CORU. Any sanction heavier than an advice, admonishment or censure takes effect only when the High Court confirms it.
- Professional misconduct
- A ground under all five Acts — of a complaint under four of them, and of an application for an inquiry under the Dentists Act. The Dental Council describes it as a serious falling short in the standards expected of a dentist; the PSI as behaviour that goes against its Code of Conduct for registered pharmacists; CORU as any act, omission or pattern of conduct that breaches the Code.
Candour, open disclosure and the other terms the course uses
- Duty of candour
- The professional responsibility to be open, honest and transparent when something goes wrong in care, or care does not go as intended, whether harm is actual or potential.
- Open disclosure
- Under the Patient Safety (Notifiable Incidents and Open Disclosure) Act 2023, commenced on 26 September 2024 apart from section 68, open disclosure of a notifiable incident is required by law.
- Adverse event
- An incident in care that results in harm — physical, psychological, or practical and social, such as a delayed recovery or additional treatment.
- Near miss
- An error that did not cause harm, by chance or because it was caught in time. The course covers when one should be disclosed.
- Apology
- An expression of empathy and regret for what the patient has experienced. The course treats it as sincere and unqualified, and not an automatic admission of fault.
- Candour conversation
- The discussion with the patient or family after an adverse event: prepared, private, factual, honest about uncertainty, followed up, and recorded.
- Serious incident review
- An internal review of an adverse event, in which the course expects truthful and complete accounts and records left unaltered.
- Insight
- Understanding the seriousness of what happened, your own responsibility, and its effect on patients, families, colleagues and public trust.
- Remediation
- Practical, targeted steps that reduce the risk of recurrence: relevant, proportionate, sustained over time and verifiable.
The Acts a complaint is made and decided under
Ireland’s five health regulators each work under their own Act, all five amended by the Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Act 2020. These are the sections that say who may complain, on what grounds, and who looks at the complaint first.
Medical Council — Medical Practitioners Act 2007, section 57
A person, including the Council, may complain to the chief executive officer. The grounds include professional misconduct, poor professional performance, a relevant medical disability, and a failure to comply with a condition, an undertaking or a consent. The chief executive officer looks at the complaint first, an Authorised Officer may gather the facts, and the Preliminary Proceedings Committee decides whether there is enough cause to take further action. Read it.
For this course: The Medical Council counts an early apology to anyone affected as evidence of insight; Section 4 covers the apology and the disclosure conversation.
NMBI — Nurses and Midwives Act 2011, section 55
A person, including the Board, may complain to the chief executive officer. The grounds include professional misconduct, poor professional performance, non-compliance with a code of professional conduct, a relevant medical disability, and an irregularity in relation to the custody, prescription or supply of a controlled drug. A Preliminary Proceedings Committee, assisted by a case officer, may refer a complaint to the Fitness to Practise Committee for a sworn oral inquiry. Read it.
For this course: The NMBI Code asks nurses and midwives to report any error; Section 7 covers honesty with colleagues about errors and near misses.
Dental Council — Dentists Act 1985, section 38
The Council or any person may apply to the Fitness to Practise Committee for an inquiry, on grounds that include alleged professional misconduct and alleged unfitness to practise by reason of physical or mental disability. The Fitness to Practise Committee considers whether there is a prima facie case, and if there is, it holds the inquiry. Read it.
For this course: The Dental Council plans to add Open Disclosure Framework requirements to its Code; Section 3 covers when candour applies.
Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland — Pharmacy Act 2007, section 35
A complaint may be made in writing by or on behalf of any person, or by the registrar. The grounds include professional misconduct, poor professional performance, the effect on practice of a physical or mental ailment, emotional disturbance, or alcohol or drug addiction, and a failure to comply with a condition or an undertaking. The PSI separates a concern from a statutory complaint, which is for issues of a serious nature; its Preliminary Proceedings Committee may refer a complaint to a committee of inquiry or to mediation. Read it.
For this course: Section 2 covers records that are never altered to conceal an error, and Section 5 truthful accounts in reviews and investigations.
CORU — Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005, section 52
A complaint may be made to the Council by or on behalf of any person, or by a registration board. The grounds include professional misconduct, which CORU describes as any act, omission or pattern of conduct that breaches the Code, and poor professional performance. The Preliminary Proceedings Committee screens out complaints that are trivial, vexatious, without substance or made in bad faith; the Professional Conduct Committee deals with conduct or competence, and the Health Committee with whether a registrant’s health is affecting their ability to practise. Read it.
For this course: CORU says open disclosure of a notifiable incident must happen within 24 to 48 hours; Section 4 covers timing and preparation.
Also engaged: Sanctions — advice, admonishment or censure, conditions, suspension and cancellation (erasure under the Dentists Act): Medical Practitioners Act s.71, Nurses and Midwives Act s.69, Dentists Act ss.39 to 41, Pharmacy Act s.48, Health and Social Care Professionals Act s.66 · High Court confirmation — the heavier sanctions take effect only when the High Court confirms them; an advice, admonishment or censure on confirmation or once the appeal window of 21 or 30 days passes without an appeal · The 2020 Act — the Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Act 2020, which amended all five Acts in stages from 2021 to 2025.
What happens after a complaint reaches an Irish regulator
Each regulator has its own Act and its own names for the stages, and your letter tells you which stage you are at. At each of them the same three things are worth showing in writing: that you see what went wrong, that you understand it against your regulator’s code, and what you have changed, with dated evidence.
The complaint and the grounds
Anyone may complain, including the regulator itself. Under the Medical Practitioners Act and the Nurses and Midwives Act the complaint goes to the chief executive officer; under the Pharmacy Act it may be made by or on behalf of any person or by the registrar; under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act by or on behalf of any person or by a registration board. Under the Dentists Act the Council or any person applies to the Fitness to Practise Committee for an inquiry. Professional misconduct is a ground of complaint under the other four Acts, and a ground for an application for an inquiry under the Dentists Act.
The preliminary stage
The Medical Council, NMBI, the PSI and CORU each have a Preliminary Proceedings Committee. At the Medical Council the chief executive officer looks at a complaint first and may assign an Authorised Officer, and the committee decides whether there is enough cause to take further action. At NMBI the committee may refer a complaint to the Fitness to Practise Committee for a sworn oral inquiry, or suggest mediation or informal resolution; at the PSI it may refer a complaint to a committee of inquiry or to mediation; at CORU it screens out complaints that are trivial, vexatious, without substance or made in bad faith. Under the Dentists Act the Fitness to Practise Committee considers whether there is a prima facie case.
Undertakings, consents and mediation
A complaint can be concluded by agreement in some cases. At the Medical Council’s preliminary stage a doctor may be asked to undertake not to repeat the conduct, or to consent to censure (2025 procedures). At NMBI in 2024, 12 undertakings or consents concluded matters at the preliminary stage and the Fitness to Practise Committee recommended 32 (State of Complaints 2024). Undertakings were the largest single Committee of Inquiry outcome in the cases CORU concluded in 2022 to 2024: 13, against 7 censures (trends report). In 2024 the Dental Council accepted undertakings from a dentist instead of making a High Court application (Annual Report 2024). Mediation at NMBI and CORU needs the consent of both sides.
The inquiry
The inquiry committee is the Fitness to Practise Committee at the Medical Council, NMBI and the Dental Council, and the Professional Conduct Committee or the Health Committee at the PSI and CORU. At NMBI allegations against a nurse or midwife must be proven beyond reasonable doubt. Medical Council inquiries are held in public unless the Council decides on a hearing in private or part private (Medical Council); CORU says its Professional Conduct Committee hearings are normally held in public and its Health Committee hearings normally in private.
The sanction and the High Court
Sanctions run from advice, admonishment or censure (admonishment or censure at the PSI and CORU) through conditions and suspension to cancellation, called erasure under the Dentists Act (MPA s.71, NMA s.69, Dentists Act s.39, Pharmacy Act s.48, HSCP Act s.66). The heavier sanctions take effect only when the High Court confirms them; an advice, admonishment or censure takes effect on confirmation or once the appeal window passes without an appeal: 21 days for doctors, nurses, midwives and dentists, 30 days for pharmacists and CORU registrants (MPA s.74, NMA s.72, Dentists Act s.41, Pharmacy Act s.50, HSCP Act s.68).
Interim measures and your first reply
Separately, the Medical Council says interim suspension is possible under section 60 of the Medical Practitioners Act 2007; where there is a serious and immediate risk, the PSI’s Council can seek suspension from the High Court; and the Dental Council may apply to the High Court for suspension under section 44 of the Dentists Act. None of the five regulators publishes a fixed deadline for a first reply: the Medical Council gives not less than two weeks to respond to an Investigation Report, and NMBI says you may request an extension of time. Take advice before you reply.
Facing a complaint to your regulator or a fitness to practise inquiry? This course helps you remediate — and show it.
Buy this course — €100 (€70 with Bulk Buy 10)Courses with the Ethics and Professionalism pair written to your own regulator’s code — for doctors, nurses and midwives, dentists, pharmacists and all other healthcare professionals, or every course →
Frequently asked questions
What is the duty of candour?
The professional responsibility to be open, honest and transparent when something goes wrong in care, or care does not go as intended, whether harm is actual or potential. The course applies it to errors, near misses, unexpected outcomes, delays, communication failures and system failures, and to everything that follows: the conversation, the record and any review.
Is open disclosure required by law in Ireland?
For notifiable incidents, yes. The Patient Safety (Notifiable Incidents and Open Disclosure) Act 2023 commenced on 26 September 2024, apart from section 68, and CORU says it applies to all public and private health services and staff. Section 2 of the course has a lesson on the Act and on the professional duty it does not replace; ask your employer or your adviser what the Act requires of you.
Is an apology an admission of fault?
The course treats an apology as an expression of empathy and regret, not an automatic admission of fault: saying you are sorry this happened acknowledges the patient’s experience. Avoid a conditional or defensive apology, and ask your adviser how to word it in your own case.
Should I tell a patient about a near miss?
The course says to consider whether the patient was exposed to risk, whether the information would matter to them, and whether disclosure would support trust and learning, and supports disclosure where a near miss could reasonably have caused harm or would concern a reasonable patient if found later. Section 3 covers near misses.
Can I explain what happened while a review is still under way?
Yes. The course supports early communication: explain what is known, acknowledge what is not, avoid speculation, and commit to update the patient. Silence or delay can be read as evasion. Section 3 covers uncertainty and ongoing investigations, and Section 4 the conversation itself.
The disclosure conversation was not recorded. What now?
Do not alter an existing entry, and take advice before you add anything to a record that is the subject of a complaint. Section 4 covers what a record of a candour conversation should contain, and Section 2 why an altered record undermines candour; Documentation for Healthcare Professionals covers late entries.
Should I take advice before I respond?
Yes — before anything is written to the regulator, a committee or your employer. Whatever your profession, ask your indemnifier, your union or professional body, or a solicitor. Nothing on this page is legal advice.
How long does it take, and how long do I have access?
The course is 2 CPD hours, self-paced, with access for twelve months from purchase. The certificate is issued on completion, dated, with the course title and the CPD hours. Whether the hours count towards your own CPD requirement is for your regulator or scheme to say: doctors must undertake a minimum of 50 hours in each scheme year, and CORU registrants must achieve 30 CPD credits in every 12-month period.
Can I get a certificate with a later date?
No. The certificate records the date you completed the course, and that date does not change. If your regulator, an inquiry committee or an employer asks for recent evidence, you buy the course again: half price within twelve months of your original purchase, the full €100 after that.
Will anyone be told that I am taking the course?
No. Nobody is told you are enrolled. We do not share participant details with any regulator, an employer, a union or an indemnifier; the certificate reaches them only if you attach it to your own response.
Courses that work alongside this one
Candour sits beside communication, records and the rebuilding of trust. These are the courses that pair with this one.
Rebuilding Trust of Patients, Colleagues, the Public and the Regulator
How trust is lost, and how it is rebuilt with patients, the public, teams and the regulator: insight, remediation and future risk.
Effective Communication for Healthcare Professionals
Communication with patients and families, difficult and high-risk conversations, handover and escalation, and written and digital communication.
Documentation for Healthcare Professionals
Good clinical documentation, consent and capacity, handover records, digital records and data protection, and records during a complaint.
Dealing with a Complaint or Investigation Professionally
Responding to a complaint, employer and regulatory investigations, records and evidence, and protecting your wellbeing while the matter is open.
Insight for Fitness to Practise
What insight is, how the five regulators frame it, weak and strong demonstrations of insight, and how insight is shown in a portfolio and at a hearing.
Professional Ethics Course
What each Irish regulator expects, probity and integrity, boundaries and conflicts of interest, conduct online, five weak and strong responses, and the ethical portfolio.
Medical Ethics Course
The four principles, consent and capacity, confidentiality and justified disclosure, candour, boundaries, probity, digital practice, fairness, and writing for regulators.
Duty of Candour for Healthcare Professionals
This course. When the duty applies, talking with patients and families after an adverse event, and candour during complaints and reviews.
Start today, finish at your own pace
Immediate access on purchase. Twelve months' access, a dated certificate on completion, and 2 CPD hours issued by Healthcare Ethics Courses.