Dr. John Duddy:

I wish to respond to Senator Colm Burke's first two questions. On the lack of understanding in giving information to patients, there is good evidence in the numbers of patients and families who say they have taken a court case just to find out what happened. There is a sense that the institution's primary concern is the protection of its own reputation. There is a sense that it is defending itself rather than allowing the patient or his or her family to find out what happened. That is a common organisational response. We saw it in other instances with the Catholic Church and so on in which the response was to defend the institution. I hope this open disclosure legislation will bring that culture to an end in order that health care professionals will act without having to worry about potential knock-on effects on the part of management or their employer. At the end of the day, that is what this is about: allowing patients and their families access to information when an adverse event happens.

The Senator's second question was about the lack of support for staff when involved in an adverse event. Again, there is very good evidence in the medical literature as regards the second victim syndrome which health care professionals experience across the board when an adverse event occurs. Like Dr. Ryan, I work in neurosurgery, an area in which we frequently look after critically-ill patients and in which there are poor outcomes, as I have experienced myself. The support from colleagues and employers has been variable. It is something that should be instituted across the board, particularly in high-stress medical specialties such as intensive care, general surgery, neurosurgery, obstetrics and so on. There should be some obligation on the employer to provide support for staff who have been involved in these events. That is something we mentioned in our statement.