Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 16 July 2014

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions

Report on “A Good Death”: Office of the Ombudsman

4:25 pm

Photo of Susan O'KeeffeSusan O'Keeffe (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ombudsman and his office for producing this report, and I congratulate him on it. As he said, this is a somewhat unusual report for us. We spend a considerable amount of time talking about accountability and effectively trying to find someone to blame. It is quite refreshing to have a report that does not take that approach and rather assembles the stories and finds some common themes, as the Ombudsman has done very adequately. In Ireland, the area of death is one we are not great at and we are learning to be better at it.

The Irish Hospice Foundation does extraordinary work in its own right. I pay tribute to it and to Ms Angela Edgehill who is a terrific director. Having a programme on television was really useful and I am sure the Office of the Ombudsman got extraordinary feedback from that. The more we talk about the problems associated with death, the more likely we are to create an environment in hospitals where that becomes the expected thing and becomes a natural part of how we are without having to write out long recommendations. However, having said that, we need to put come protocols in place. I have read the report carefully. I am sure the Ombudsman is aware that the Joint Committee on Health and Children launched a report today, which is obviously very valuable. We are all singing from the same hymn sheet here, but the more often we talk about it and the more people we involve, the greater the possibility of broadening the reach of the message, which is very important.

Does the Ombudsman have a view on how to engineer a change in hospitals? One of the recommendations in the other report was to have a person who is responsible. It takes much more than just having a person, does it not? The Office of the Ombudsman has the opportunity to look closely at all those stories that people sent in, many of them very painful. They opened up their hearts, albeit they did not start out thinking they would end up in a report such as this. I am sure they are very grateful that this is what happened.

What does the Ombudsman believe can be done? While I have commended the publication of the report, I am concerned that because it does not point fingers and highlight what is wrong, it may have the capacity to gather dust. When I wrote to the Chairman asking for the Ombudsman to be invited to appear before the committee, I believe I used that expression - I certainly did so when talking on radio about it. I do not want that to happen. Given the painful experiences people have shared with the Office of the Ombudsman, I do not want people to say, "That was a good idea, but we could not take it further". It is a challenge for the Office of the Ombudsman and for us as a committee to know how we can help to be part of the process.

We are making a start by engaging in the discussion. As the Ombudsman sees it, what steps should be taken by members and his office to keep the momentum going? I have a particular concern about the guidelines on resuscitation. The request not to resuscitate clearly presents a very complex issue. Partners' and families' rights and so on also present very difficult issues. It is a particular issue that could cause many difficulties and clearly has.

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