Dr. Kathleen MacLellan:

Broadly enhancing patient safety at scale across our health system is going to require a comprehensive set of patient safety interventions. We know that from our international patient-safety experts and our research. To pursue this, we are tackling the issue in a number of different ways. Within the health information and patient safety Bill we have included provisions to support and promulgate clinical audit, the reporting of the serious reportable events and also the extension of HIQA's remit to the private sector. This is part of an overall programme of work. For example, we have already discussed in the committee the proposals around open disclosure and, recently, the planned introduction of licensing for our public and private hospitals and high-risk designated activities. The Deputy may be interested to know that HIQA and the mental health commission are finalising standards for patient safety instant management which will be very helpful for the system. They will be published early in 2017.

In terms of the Department's policy commitment and leadership, the Minister launched the national patient safety office last week and it has three programmes of work. These include extending the national clinical effectiveness agenda and developing the patient safety surveillance system, both of which are highly dependent on good data and good information sets to help build our system going forward. The patient safety office will further develop and deliver a programme of policy and legislation. Just today at the announcement of the national service plan, the HSE committed to a changed approach to its management around patient safety to a patient safety programme of work. We are confident that within that comprehensive set of patient safety measures we will really start to move forward our patient safety agenda.