Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 6:

In page 21, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following: “(3) The Executive shall have regard to subsections (1)and (2)—

(a) in the performance of its functions under section 7 of the Act of 2004, and

(b) without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (a), in its management and delivery, under section 7(4) of the Act of 2004, of health and personal social services.

(4) The Authority shall have regard to subsections (1)and (2)when setting standards referred to in section 8(1)(b) of the Act of 2007.

(5) A professional regulatory body shall have regard to subsection (2)in the performance of its functions by or under—

(a) the Medical Practitioners Act 2007,

(b) the Act of 1985,

(c) the Pharmacy Act 2007,

(d) the Act of 2011,

(e) the Act of 2005, or

(f) the Order of 2000.

(6) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (5), a professional regulatory body shall make provision for the obligation referred to in subsection (2)in, having regard to each of the different health practitioners—

(a) the standards of practice or guidance referred to in section 7(2)(i) of the Medical Practitioners Act 2007,

(b) the guidance referred to in section 66(2) of the Act of 1985,

(c) the codes referred to in section 7(2)(a)(iii) of the Pharmacy Act 2007,

(d) the code referred to in section 9(2)(g)(iii) of the Act of 2011,

(e) the guidance referred to in section 27(3)(c) of the Act of 2005, or

(f) the guidelines referred to in Article 4(o) of the Order of 2000.

(7) In this section—

“Act of 2004” means the Health Act 2004;

“professional regulatory body” means—

(a) in the case of a registered medical practitioner or a medical practitioner referred to in paragraph (a)of the definition of “health practitioner”, the Council referred to in the Medical Practitioners Act 2007,

(b) in the case of a registered dentist referred to in paragraph (b)of the definition of “health practitioner”, the Council referred to in the Act of 1985,

(c) in the case of a registered pharmacist or registered pharmaceutical assistant referred to in paragraph (c)of the definition of “health practitioner”, the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland referred to in section 5(2) of the Pharmacy Act 2007,

(d) in the case of a registered nurse or registered midwife referred to in paragraph (d)of the definition of “health practitioner”, the Board referred to in the Act of 2011,

(e) in the case of a registrant referred to in paragraph (e)of the definition of “health practitioner”, a registration board established by or under the Act of 2005, or

(f) in the case of a person referred to in paragraph (f)of the definition of “health practitioner”, the Council referred to in the Order of 2000.”.

Section 12 addresses openness and transparency and sets out that when making an open disclosure under this Bill, health service providers and health practitioners must provide all relevant information to the patient or to his or her relevant person and where appropriate, any other health service to address the consequences of the notifiable patient safety incident. A Government decision in December 2019 approved the drafting of the head of the following Committee Stage amendment to seek to expand the provisions of this Bill, for example, section 12 regarding openness and transparency - to apply more widely with regard to patient safety incidents.

Following consultation with the Office of the Attorney General, the Department added further draft provisions to section 12. These additional provisions intend to expand the impact of sections 12(1) and (2) under openness and transparency in the Bill by ensuring these provisions are enshrined in the relevant polices, national standards and codes of professional conduct or practice set by the relevant organisations. These are the HSE, as the body responsible for the delivery of health and social services; HIQA, as the body with responsibility for setting national standards for the delivery of those services and monitoring and reporting against those standards; and relevant regulatory authorities such as the Medical Council, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland and others with responsibility for registration and oversight of specific health practitioners defined in this Bill.

These new provisions seek to enshrine in legislation a need for due regard to the provisions contained in the section on openness and transparency in these policies, national standards and codes of professional conduct. They go further than towards achieving the objective of ensuring the duty of candour is embedded across the health service.