Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 112: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the action she is taking to implement the recommendations of the Commission on Patient Safety; if the drafting of all the legislative changes necessary to implement the recommendations has begun; if an implementation steering group, with a clear reporting relationship to her, has been established; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34953/08]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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In January 2007, as part of the Government's commitment to ensuring patient safety and quality in our health services, I established a Commission on Patient Safety and Quality Assurance to develop clear and practical recommendations to ensure that quality and safety of care for patients is paramount within the healthcare system. The Commission's Report — 'Building a Culture of Patient Safety' was published in August 2008. This is the first report of its kind and it makes far reaching recommendations which when implemented will impact very positively on patients and their families.

The most significant recommendation of the report is the introduction of a licensing system for all health services whether they are delivered publicly or privately and such a system would of course require legislation which will be extremely complex and take some time to develop. Other recommendations in the report which would require legislation include a mandatory system of adverse event reporting and legal protection for information collected through such a system. Similar protection is also suggested for information provided in the context of a process of open disclosure or clinical or other patient safety audit.

The implementation plan endorsed by the Commission recommends the immediate establishment of an Implementation Steering Group (ISG) with clear and regular reporting obligations to the Minister for Health and Children regarding progress on the implementation of the recommendations of the Report. This also requires the establishment of expert sub-groups composed of representatives of relevant stakeholders, each of which will be required to report to the ISG on the practical and detailed implementation of the recommendations within their remit. The advantages of this model are that it immediately builds on the structures already in place and can deliver results quickly.

I am currently considering the Commission's recommendations in detail. It is my intention to bring the report, together with an implementation strategy, which will include proposals relating to both of the issues raised by the Deputy, to Government for approval as soon as possible.