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Dail Éireann · 2023-04-26

Patient Safety (Notifiable Incidents and Open Disclosure) Bill 2019: From the Seanad

FF Stephen Donnelly · Wicklow · Minister for Health

Party shown is the one held on 2023-04-26, frozen at parse time — not the speaker's party today.

Summary of this debate

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It will provide mandatory open disclosure of serious patient safety incidences. It contains provisions supporting clinical audit, something we need to have go from strength to strength. As regards the screening service provisions, it provides for mandatory open disclosure for completed individual patient-requested reviews of their screening and provides an obligation for the cancer screening services to inform patients of their right to a review.

I acknowledge the substantial work that has been done by the officials in my Department and our clinical teams and public health teams, with support right through the HSE. I again acknowledge the vital role that patient advocates have played in pushing for the Bill, supporting it and seeking to improve it through the legislative process.

Built by scoring every sentence in the debate on how distinctive its language is, then quoting the highest-scoring ones back word for word and in the order spoken. Nothing is paraphrased or invented — if a sentence appears here, it was said in the chamber. Drawn from 300 words across 3 contributions by 2 speakers.

Most used terms in this debate

How often each word appears across the whole debate, ranked by how distinctive it is to this debate rather than common to all parliamentary language.

clinical 4
screening 3
patient 3
patients 3
disclosure 2
patient-requested 1
advocates 2
seanad 3
mandatory 2
strength 2
opc 1
acquainting 1

The full debate

All 3 contributions, start to finish, in the order they were made. The one you came here for is highlighted.

FF Stephen Donnelly this contribution

This is an entirely technical amendment to delete the phrase "Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform" and replace it with "Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform". The amendment is required by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, OPC.

FF Stephen Donnelly

I thank my colleagues across the Dáil and the Seanad for the speedy passage of the Bill through Committee and Remaining Stages. We all know how important the Bill is and what it will do for patients. It will provide mandatory open disclosure of serious patient safety incidences. It provides for notification to the regulator. It extends HIQA's remit to private hospitals, which is very important. It contains provisions supporting clinical audit, something we need to have go from strength to strength. As regards the screening service provisions, it provides for mandatory open disclosure for completed individual patient-requested reviews of their screening and provides an obligation for the cancer screening services to inform patients of their right to a review. It is really important legislation. It will make a big difference for patients and clinical outcomes into the future.

I acknowledge the substantial work that has been done by the officials in my Department and our clinical teams and public health teams, with support right through the HSE. I again acknowledge the vital role that patient advocates have played in pushing for the Bill, supporting it and seeking to improve it through the legislative process. It is ground-breaking legislation, and I acknowledge that a great many people have been involved in this, from patient advocates through to the clinical community and my Department, with very constructive engagement and ideas during the debates in the Oireachtas as well.

CC Catherine Connolly

Agreement to the Seanad amendments is reported to the House. A message will be sent to Seanad Éireann acquainting it accordingly.