Duty of Candour Report for Asda Opticians in Scotland 2023/24
All opticians in Scotland have a duty of candour. This is a legal requirement, which means that when unintended or unexpected events happen that result in death or harm as defined in the Act, the people affected understand what has happened, receive an apology, and that organisations learn how to improve for the future. An important part of this duty is that we provide an annual report about how the duty of candour is implemented in our services.
How many incidents happened to which Duty of Candour applies?
Between 1st April 2023 and 31st March 2024 there were no incidents where the duty of candour applied.
| Type of unexpected or unintended incident | Number of times this happened |
| Someone has died | 0 |
| Someone has permanently less bodily, sensory, motor, physiologic or intellectual functions | 0 |
| Someone’s treatment has increased because of harm | 0 |
| The structure of someone’s body changes because of harm | 0 |
| Someone’s life expectancy becomes shorter because or harm | 0 |
| Someone’s sensory, motor or intellectual function is impaired for 28 days or more | 0 |
| Someone experienced pain or psychological harm for 28 days or more | 0 |
| A person needed health treatment in order to prevent them dying | 0 |
| A person needed health treatment in order to prevent other issues | 0 |
Information about our policies and procedures
We have many Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) to ensure we keep our patients and customers safe. Including specific SOPs on Duty of Candour, Error Reporting, Professional Complaints & Escalating Concerns. All colleagues are trained on SOPs as part of their initial training with us and then are re-trained as SOPs are refreshed or updated.
When something goes wrong, this is escalated to the Optical compliance team, who investigate, an action plan is put in place to ensure appropriate learnings and changes take place.
If the duty of candour process is triggered, the Optical compliance team follow the process with the relevant person.
All our Optometrist, Optical Managers, Dispensing Opticians and Optical colleagues are trained on the duty of candour and support is available for any colleagues affected by a duty of candour incident. The General Optical Council guidance on Duty of Candour and our policies are all available on our intranet for all colleagues.
Other information
As required, we have submitted this report to the required authority and is available on our corporate website.
If you require any further information please contact us at [email protected] or Optical Professional Services Team, ASDA House, Great Wilson Street, Leeds, LS11 5AD