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Plans to introduce a duty of candour will only work for pharmacists if dispensing errors are decriminalised, Pharmacy Voice and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society have stated.

Under the statutory 'duty of candour' obligation that the DH is planning to tie into the Care Quality Commission's registration requirements, pharmacists would have to admit to all dispensing errors. However this would be an admission of guilt under existing legislation and therefore criminal sanctions could be applied, the two pharmacy organisations say in their responses to a Department of Health consultation on the proposal.

The plans are the result of a recommendation made in the Francis report, which was published following the inquiry into failings at Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust.

While supportive of improvements in quality of care and a reduction in the number and severity of patient safety incidences, Pharmacy Voice says that a statutory duty of candour €may unintentionally act in opposition to a move towards a just culture€ because it would lead to €defensive documentation and large bureaucratic overheads€.

PV instead suggests applying the duty in only the most serious of cases, although it admits that work is required so there is consistency in how level of harm is decided and interpreted.