Stephen Donnelly

The new framework was launched by health minister Stephen Donnelly at the National Patient Safety Office (NSPO) conference in Dublin Castle yesterday.

Mr Donnelly said: “When something goes wrong with a patient’s care, we must have an open, consistent, compassionate and timely approach to communicating with those patients and families.

“I want this framework to embed good policies and practice for open disclosure. We must create a positive patient safety culture and foster trust in our health services and professionals.

“Patients and their families rightly expect three things when something does go wrong: to be told honestly what happened; to be told what can be done to deal with any harm caused; and to know what will be done to prevent a recurrence to someone else.

“This first national framework provides for a more consistent approach to this, and builds on existing HSE and other policies, as well as the views and experience of stakeholders and recommendations from the Independent Patient Safety Council.”

He added: “This framework complements the new Patient Safety Act in building a culture of patient safety that is focussed on continuous learning and improvement. Working together to embed a culture of open disclosure within the health services and across health and social care organisations will ensure a better, safer care experience for all patients and their families.”