Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is welcome that the Minister will establish an independent advocacy agency. The best way we can address the issue of advocacy for patients and those who use the heath service is to try to ensure we have accountability. The best form of accountability is to have information available to the public, including on the performance of hospitals and individuals within hospitals in terms of outcomes, assessments and comparators across health services, in order that people can scrutinise hospitals and see how good their performance is. While HIQA is very much into the quality side, there is a gap evolving in the information flow in ensuring full information and accountability across the health service. The patient safety authority should have a role in ensuring people are aware of the performance of hospitals in orer that they can make informed choices.

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