Duty of Candour Report | Saving Teeth in Edinburgh

Reporting Period: 01 Oct 2025 – 31 March 2026

Introduction

The Health Care (Scotland) Act 2016 (The Act) and The Duty of Candour Procedure (Scotland) Regulations 2018 (the Regulations) set out a new Duty of Candour.

The Act and the Regulations require organisations providing health services, care services and social work services in Scotland to follow a formalised procedure when there has been an unintended or unexpected incident that results in death or harm (or additional treatment is required to prevent injury that would result in death or harm).

The purpose of this new duty is to ensure that providers are open, honest, supportive and providing a person-centred approach.

Our legal obligation

As a provider of an independent health care service we are required to develop and implement a duty of candour policy that describes how we and our staff will act in the event of an unintended or unexpected incident that results in death or harm (or additional treatment is required to prevent injury that would result in death or harm).

The key stages of the policy include the procedure we will follow to:

Notify the person affected (or family/relative where appropriate);
Provide an apology;
Carry out a review into the circumstances that led to the incident;
Offer a meeting with the person affected and/or their family, where appropriate;
Provide the person affected with an account of the incident;
Provide information about further steps taken;
Provide support to staff notifying the person affected by the incident;
Prepare and publish an annual duty of candour report.

We are required to prepare and publish a duty of candour report at the end of each financial year, providing information about when and where we have applied the duty of candour. This report outlines our commitment to patient safety and transparency during the reporting period.

Report:

Every healthcare professional must be open and honest with patients when something that goes wrong with their treatment or care causes, or has the potential to cause, harm or distress. Services must tell the patient, apologise, offer appropriate remedy or support and fully explain the effects to the patient.

As part of our responsibilities, we must produce an annual report to provide a summary of the number of times we have trigger duty of Candour within our service.

Name & address of service:

Saving Teeth, 23B Howe Street, Edinburgh, EH3 6TF

Date of report:

31/03/2026

How have you made sure that you (and your staff) understand your responsibilities relating to the duty of candour and have systems in place to respond effectively?

How have you done this?

We are committed to an open and transparent culture. If an event occurs that triggers the duty of candour, our staff follow a clear reporting procedure including reporting, recording, learning, review, support, training and awareness,

All new staff are trained in the duty of candour as part of their induction process.

Regular refresher training is provided to ensure our team understands their responsibilities under this duty.
We foster an aviation themed culture of openness and learning, encouraging staff to report concerns without fear of blame.

We have full commitment to Patient Safety. Although no duty of candour incidents have occurred in the last year, we remain dedicated to:

Continuous improvement in patient care.
Maintaining high clinical standards and following best practices.
Ensuring transparency and clear communication with patients and their families

Do you have a Duty of Candour Policy or written duty of candour procedure?

YES

How many times have you/your service implemented the duty of candour procedure this financial year?

In the last year, there have been no incidents at Saving Teeth to which the duty of candour applied

Prepared by: Dr Navid Saberi

Date: 31/03/2026