Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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361. To ask the Minister for Health in the context of recent High Court decisions where the Health Service Executive has resisted until the commencement of the hearing of the case the acceptance of responsibility and liability in respect of the injury of an individual which may have occurred some years before the hearing of the action, if a duty of candour might be placed on HSE to facilitate earlier and more timely settlements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54900/13]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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The management of clinical negligence cases taken against the HSE is delegated to the State Claims Agency (SCA) which has a statutory mandate to investigate and manage these cases to completion. I am advised that the SCA, wherever it is proper to do so, based on expert medical and legal advice, admits breach of duty at the earliest possible opportunity to avoid distress to patients and their families. Many of these cases however, particularly those involving catastrophic injuries, are very complex in nature and require time to investigate the liability and causation issues. This inevitably involves some delay before a formal admission of liability, if appropriate, can be made.

In relation to medical malpractice generally, on Tuesday 12 November this year, the HSE launched National Open Disclosure Policy, Guidelines and supporting documents following on from a joint HSE State Claims Agency national pilot project in relation to Open Disclosure. Open Disclosure is defined as “ an open consistent approach to communicating with patients and their families when things go wrong in healthcare. This includes expressing regret for what has happened, keeping the patient informed, providing feedback on investigations and the steps taken to prevent a recurrence of the adverse event".