David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On Deputy Jim O'Callaghan's points which were well made, the case notes or details of an incident will obviously be in the medical records. The fact that an open disclosure was made will also be noted.

There is no need to ask, therefore, somebody whether he or she made an apology. It will be on the record Future care needs will also be on the record.

We are on parallel tracks. On one track we are trying to encourage, as the Deputy said, open disclosure and, where appropriate, the free apology and so on. The medical practitioner will meet the patient and say he or she is making an open disclosure, this is what happened, these are the consequences, this is what needs to be done for the patient's medical care and away we go. The legal process and all the medical records are on the other track. We are trying to keep the tracks parallel but separate. We want to ensure that whatever happens between the patient and the medical provider in making the disclosure, there will not be a chilling effect or impediment to full disclosure of all the information the patient needs or to any question the patient asks being answered and to a sincere apology being given. It is about building up the relationship between the patient and the medical provider. The concern is the medical providers might think they have to be careful about what they say and believe they cannot say something because it will be used in court against them or they cannot write something down in an open disclosure because it will end up in court, which would impede the other track we want to keep as open as possible.

The intention of the open disclosure track is to inform patients about what happened as early as possible in the process. If patients then seeks the medical records, the information will be there and if they want to take the legal route, that can happen as well. They may not want to do that and they may decide a mistake was made, an incident occurred but they have received a sincere apology and they need to get his fixed now by working with their doctor, who is sorry about this. This is where we are coming from. We are seeking a change of culture. We do not want medical providers looking over their shoulders at an open disclosure meeting and wondering whether they should have their solicitor sitting beside them to advise them on what they should or should not say because it could end up in court. My understanding of this is there are parallel tracks and if we can maintain them, we will do best by patients, which is what we are all seeking at the end of the day.