Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 February 2021
944. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the steps taken to date and the forthcoming plans to introduce a statutory duty of candour on individual healthcare professionals and the groups in which they work which was a key recommendation of the Scally report in 2018; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8862/21]
View answerA Government Decision on the 3 December 2019 approved the text of the Patient Safety (Notifiable Patient Safety Incidents) Bill 2019, enabling it to be introduced into Dáil Éireann on the 12 December 2019 where it passed the First and Second Stage.
The provisions of this Bill provide for mandatory open disclosure (referred to as duty of candour in other jurisdictions) of serious patient safety incidents, in addition to the provisions for open disclosure already contained in Part 4 of the Civil Liability (Amendment) Act 2017.
The Patient Safety Bill, in addition to addressing mandatory open disclosure of serious patient safety incidents, will also provide for a number of other important patient safety concerns, including in relation to mandatory reporting of serious incidents to an appropriate regulatory body such as HIQA and the Mental Health Commission.
The Government Decision of the 3rd of December 2019 also approved the drafting of an amendment which seeks to expand the provisions of this Bill, e.g. section 12, regarding ‘openness and transparency’ to apply more widely in relation to patient safety incidents having regard to the recommendations of Dr. Scally (referred to as duty of candour).
My Department is currently working with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel on this amendment and are in the final stages of its drafting. This amending provision will provide for ‘openness and transparency’ or ‘duty of candour’ to be embedded across the health service, including among individual healthcare professionals. The Bill is part of the current Programme for Government and due to go to Dáil Committee Stage at the earliest opportunity.
