Dáil to consider mandatory open disclosure scheme following CervicalCheck scandal

A bill to provide for mandatory open disclosure of a patient safety incident is set to be considered by the Dáil following the CervicalCheck scandal.

The Civil Liability (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2018, introduced by Sinn Féin TD Louise O’Reilly, amends the Civil Liability (Amendment) Act 2017 “to correct the wrong which was made at the time to make open disclosure voluntary as opposed to mandatory”.

Under the voluntary open disclosure scheme, medical professionals are given legal protection for any information they give following a patient safety incident. A disclosure under the law cannot be interpreted as an admission of liability and cannot be used in any legal proceedings.

Similar “apology” provisions were introduced in England and Wales through the Compensation Act 2006 and in Scotland under the Apologies (Scotland) Act 2016.

After backing down from a mandatory disclosure scheme in favour of a voluntary one, the Government has now moved towards supporting the former following the fallout from the CervicalCheck scandal.

Ms O’Reilly (pictured) said: “I welcome that the need for mandatory open disclosure with legislative underpinning is now accepted right across this House and was supported in the passing of a Sinn Féin Private Members’ motion calling for mandatory open disclosure.

“It should not have taken another scandal to change the minds of those who wanted open disclosure to be voluntary, however. Telling the truth where there is a patient safety incident should be mandatory and legislatively underpinned to ensure this.”

The Government did not oppose Ms O’Reilly’s bill at the first stage and it will now go forward for second stage debate.