The professional duty is also known as the individual duty. It is overseen by regulators of specific professions. For example, the General Medical Council (GMC), Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and Social Care Wales.

Professional duty is about people being accountable to follow codes of conduct and practice of the professional bodies they belong to that guide and govern their work. 

Currently there are no equivalent bodies or registration requirements for care and support workers in England so their work will always be under the statutory duty. Care and support workers in England will follow the codes and guidance set out in the Care Certificate which includes duty of care and safeguarding which are closely connected with duty of candour. This is slightly different in Wales where Social Care Wales manage a register of social care workers. 

The statutory duty is regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). It applies when a specific type of safety incident has occurred. These are called ‘notifiable safety incidents’. We will look at these in more detail in section 4.

If something qualifies as a notifiable safety incident, any professional duty may not be enough to meet the requirements of the statutory duty. The statutory duty must always be followed as well as the professional duty. 

Whilst the professional duty does not apply to social care in England, we include this information because it is relevant in Wales. We also share this to ensure care workers in England are aware of the responsibilities of their partners working in healthcare because they will usually form part of the wider team providing care to the individuals you support.