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Health Services

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 July 2021

Tuesday, 27 July 2021

Questions (1818)

Colm Burke

Question:

1818. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Health the reflective practices that are in place to deal with medicolegal events; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35559/21]

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Written answers

Reflective practice is an established part of the curriculum and training experience of clinicians in Ireland. Reflective Practice and the skills required are also a key feature of the continuous professional development of medical staff.

Because of the time delay between an incident and any ensuing legal action, it is generally not appropriate to wait until legal proceedings are advanced before engaging in reflective practice or taking any other necessary actions arising out of an incident. Serious patient safety incidents come to the attention of the National Patient Safety Office (NPSO) of the Department of Health through the HSE/Department of Health Patient Safety Communications Protocol. When a serious patient safety incident occurs in the HSE, the HSE notify the NPSO of the incident through the protocol.

This protocol activates a pathway of communications in relation to the serious patient safety incident and issues of concern. Through the protocol the NPSO ensures that the Minister for Health is kept appropriately informed of significant developments around patient safety incidents and that feedback is sought on how learning from patient safety incidents have helped improve quality and safety in the health service or across the health sector.

The HSE's Incident Management Framework 2020 sets out a person-centred response to the management of patient safety incidents. The approach in the Framework is to align the response with the HSE's values of Care, Compassion, Trust and Learning. The Framework indicates that focusing on learning promotes reflective practice while outlining a case for change.

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