Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)
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Question 91: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if an audit has been carried out on all recommendations from all reports on cases of misdiagnosis in recent years to ensure that they are being implemented; if not, if she will initiate such an audit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25901/10]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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Currently a national review relating to the misdiagnosis of miscarriages is being implemented by the Health Service Executive, which aims to complete it within a 6 month period, to publish its findings, and to learn from the experience in terms of implementing recommendations. Other national reviews relating to misdiagnosis have been undertaken in the area of cancer services. The learning from these has led to the implementation of extensive change in the configuration and delivery of cancer services nationally. The learning from these reviews is informing not only ongoing changes in other areas of the cancer services, but also providing the model for the Health Service Executive to implement arrangements for the management of other chronic diseases on a programmatic basis.

It is important to appreciate that reviews are only one lever in improving the safety and quality of services through learning from experience. A clear aim of any developing healthcare system must be to reduce, as far as possible, the extent of necessary recourse to reviews. Measures to achieve this are central to the Government's agenda for change in our health services. Initiatives within the extensive change programme that are taking place include statutory protection for protected disclosure provided under the Health Act 2007, recently commenced provisions under the Medical Practitioners Act to commence mandatory competence assurance for doctors, and provisions to provide legal protection around open disclosure, adverse event reporting and clinical audit, which are to be included in the Health Information Bill to be published this year.

More widely, strengthening the culture of safety and quality across the health services will be underpinned by the introduction of Standards for Better, Safer Healthcare being prepared by the Health Information and Quality Authority, with a view to launching public consultation on the draft Standards next month. Once adopted, the application of the Standards will be reinforced by legislation for the mandatory licensing of public and private healthcare providers which my Department is currently preparing. A further support to strong cultural focus on the safety and quality of care is being examined by my Department in regard to establishing a National Framework for Clinical Excellence, including the promotion of clinical audit.

The measures being taken at a national level will align very well with the consistent core message from reviews that safety and quality of care needs to be at the centre of the activities of individual health service personnel, the systems within which care is provided, and the organisations that are responsible for providing that care.