Vol. 543 No. 1
167 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health and Children his views on recent statements made at a risk management conference that the Freedom of Information Act, 1997, has the potential to have a major negative effect on efforts to encourage consultants to report errors and incidents; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25756/01]
The operation of risk management, clinical audit and other quality assurance systems depends to a degree on the confidentiality of the data collected and the processes used to evaluate them. Effective risk management systems require individual practitioners to voluntarily report incidents and near misses in which they were involved. Experience elsewhere suggests that the fear of disclosure is a major impediment to voluntary reporting. Other jurisdictions have enacted legislation to exempt peer review activities from freedom of information legislation. The issue of what protection needs to be offered in Ireland is being examined.
