Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 14 Feb 1995

Vol. 449 No. 1

Written Answers. - Review of the Charter of Patients' Rights.

Séamus Hughes

Question:

88 Mr. Hughes asked the Minister for Health the progress, if any, that has been made in reviewing the Charter of Patients Rights; when this review will be concluded; which other charter referred to in Parliamentary Question No. 6 on 8 July 1993, will be introduced; and the progress, if any, made on these charters to date. [3321/95]

Minister for Health (Mr. Noonan,

Limerick East): My Department has reviewed the implementation of the Charter of Rights for Hospital Patients and I am satisfied that, in general, health boards and hospitals have implemented its provisions. This review has also indicated that there has not been any significant increase in the volume of complaints received following the launch of the charter.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Programme for Competitiveness and Work contained an undertaking by the then Government to review the effectiveness of the Charter of Rights for Hospital Patients so as to make any necessary improvements and to ensure that it provides a properly structured system of patient rights. This work is ongoing and is now being viewed in the context of the health strategy's provisions in relation to service quality. The strategy gives an undertaking to reorientate the health services so that they are more responsive to patients' needs. I would like to say that this Government is committed to the whole area of service quality from clinical outcome to patient satisfaction. This commitment is shown in a Government of Renewal programme which has endorsed the health strategy as a basis for Government policy in the health area.

In terms of measuring patient satisfaction, the strategy requires authorities to carry out evaluations of patient satisfaction and to include their findings in the annual reports which they will be making to my Department. In addition, health authorities will be encouraged to identify and develop quality initiatives geared towards improving aspects of quality service.

Another important method of increasing the consumer orientation of the services is to ensure that detailed and accurate information on entitlements is available when required. In this regard, my Department has given a commitment in the strategy to ensure that patients and clients continue to have ready access to the fullest possible information about their entitlements and how to avail of them.

Finally, the strategy makes provision for a number of measures to give individuals an opportunity of having grievances redressed and to represent the views of service users as a group in the decision making process. Among the measures proposed are:

—the establishment of advisory groups in each health authority area to provide an input to the authority from the users of the various services;

—a requirement on all health authorities to put appropriate complaints procedures in place;

—the introduction of a statutory function of the boards of the health authorities to act as a channel to the Minister of the views and concerns of their populations.

I see the patients' charter for acute hospital services as a first step in making the health service more consumer responsive. The question of introducing further charters is currently being examined by my Department in the overall context of the health strategy.