Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

This amendment would have the effect of confining the definition of "clinical judgment" in the interpretation section of the Bill to practice by medical practitioners. This would exclude the exercise of clinical judgment by other health professionals such as nurses and a wide range of allied health professionals. That is not the intent of the provision in the Bill. The Bill contains a wider definition, according to which a clinical judgment means "a decision made or an opinion formed in connection with the diagnosis, care or treatment of a patient". That definition is needed for the complaints machinery in Part 9 of the Bill. There is a similar definition in the Ombudsman for Children legislation.