The Health (Tobacco, Nicotine etc. and Care) (Scotland) Act 2016 received Royal Assent on 6 April 2016 and introduced a new organisational duty of candour on health, care and social work services. The implementation date for the duty of candour provisions to come into effect is 1 April 2018.
The overall purpose of the new duty is to ensure that organisations are open, honest and supportive when there is an unexpected or unintended incident resulting in death or harm, as defined in the Act.