Post by Deborah Udy Okusaga Akanne (@deborah_udy_okusaga)
NHS Panels Are Now Scoring A Question That Wasn't On Interview Checklists 12 Months Ago. And Most IMGs Are Failing It.
Last week I completed a two-week NHS Interview Masterclass with doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, AHPs, and HCAs.
One question came up in every single session.
Not from me. From them.
"Why am I failing interviews even when I know the clinical content?"
The answer, almost every time, is the same.
They are not failing the clinical questions.
They are failing the governance question.
And in 2026, the governance question looks like this:
Tell us about a time you were involved in a clinical incident or near-miss. What happened, what did you do, and what did you learn?
Or: What would you do if you had a concern about a colleague's practice?
Or: "How do you ensure that patients receive honest communication when something goes wrong in their care?
These are not personality questions. They are not values questions.
They are Duty of Candour questions.
And the internationally trained doctor, nurse, or AHP who answers them with "I would report it to my senior" — or worse, "fortunately the patient was not harmed" — is scoring a 1 on a framework that goes to 4.
Here is what the NHS panel is actually assessing:
Do you understand that the Duty of Candour is a statutory obligation — embedded in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 for NHS providers — that requires honest, timely disclosure to patients when things go wrong, regardless of whether harm occurred?
Do you understand that a near-miss is not a lucky escape — it is a patient safety event that must be reported through Datix, investigated through the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF), and learned from systemically?
Do you understand that your personal professional duty under GMC Good Medical Practice, the NMC Code, and the HCPC Standards of Proficiency requires you — not your senior — to be the person who ensures the patient and family are informed?
The candidate who answers this question at a 3 or 4 does four specific things. They name the incident. They describe the immediate patient safety response. They describe the formal governance response — Datix, PSIRF, disclosure. They describe the systemic learning — what changed in the protocol or the team briefing as a direct result.
That is the answer that earns the offer.
DM me "INTERVIEW" and I will send you the full Duty of Candour interview framework built for your specific profession and grade.
Post 3 drops at 11:00 AM — the question behind the question that NHS panels are using to identify leaders from followers.
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