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IHRD-6 Accepted

Support for Candour Compliance

Hyponatraemia Inquiry · Report of the Inquiry into Hyponatraemia-related Deaths · Issued 31 January 2018 · Addressed to: Northern Ireland Executive, HSC Trusts

Source — verbatim from the inquiry

●Inquiry recommendation

Support and protection should be given to those who properly fulfil their duty of candour.

Hyponatraemia Inquiry, Report of the Inquiry into Hyponatraemia-related Deaths · 31 Jan 2018 Source PDF →

Published evidence summary

Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:

- The Department of Health NI reported that support mechanisms for staff exercising the duty of candour were being developed (IHRD Implementation Programme, Department of Health NI, March 2018).
- A Being Open Framework has been implemented across HSC Trusts, incorporating support and guidance for staff on open disclosure (Department of Health NI Progress Report, December 2018).
- The framework remains non-statutory; the statutory duty of candour recommended by the Inquiry has not been enacted.
How was this evidence gathered?
Evidence searched by Claude (Anthropic) on 17 Jul 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
This recommendation asks for cultural or behavioural change, which is difficult to verify from published sources alone. The evidence above reflects policy commitments rather than measured outcomes.

Response — verbatim from government

●Northern Ireland Executive — initial response

Guidance updated and incorporated into health and social care training and policies.

Northern Ireland Executive · 1 Mar 2018 Written response →

●HSC Trusts — follow-up

Support mechanisms established for staff raising concerns. Being Open Framework includes protections.

HSC Trusts · 1 Mar 2018 Written response →

Evidence trail — what's actually happened since

No published activity has been recorded against this recommendation yet.

Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.

How this page is built

Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.

This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.