Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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418. To ask the Minister for Health how persons will lodge complaints in a timely manner to the Medical Council, given how long the process takes, that he has not implemented a statutory of candour and that it is left to the courts to investigate cases of medical negligence; the advice he has for these parents in terms of filling out a complaint to the Medical Council given that children of ten to 12 years of age have recently won medical negligence cases; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4586/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The Medical Council handles complaints relating to a doctor's fitness to practise medicine. The Council can take action where it is believed that a doctor has serious failings in his/her practice. The Medical Council acts in the public interest, and can impose restrictions on a doctor’s registration, which would restrict or remove their right to practise medicine in Ireland.

Anyone can make a complaint about a doctor who is registered in Ireland. This includes members of the public, employers and other healthcare professionals. The Medical Council can only take action where complaints are of a serious nature and raise concerns over a doctor's fitness to practise. A complaint can be made to the Medical Council by submitting a complaint form. This form can be found on the Medical Council website www.medicalcouncil.ie.

It is generally best that complaints are dealt with locally when they occur and all efforts made to resolve them with the patient or person who has the complaint. Most complaints can be dealt with locally at the place where the person receives care. There are a number of options open to an individual to make a complaint about the health services at present. Part 9 of the Health Act 2004 states that a person has the right to complain about any action of the Health Service Executive (HSE) or a service provider that they believe was not fair or had an adverse affect on them. The HSE has appointed designated Complaints Officers to ensure the effective management of complaints throughout their relevant areas of responsibility.

The HSE actively encourages and promotes consumer feedback and links with customers on a regular basis to ensure that the complaint handling processes are effective, are being communicated and are achieving outcomes that are satisfactory to the consumers. The HSE continues to seek improvements in its complaint handling ability and capacity in order to respond to the needs of patients. Feedback from service users and their families is welcomed and valued by the HSE, taken seriously and investigated in line with ‘Your Service Your Say’ as they allow the HSE to continually improve services.

If an individual is unhappy with the way in which his/her complaint was dealt with the National Advocacy Unit of the HSE will appoint an independent officer to review the complaint. If an individual is still unhappy with the outcome of this process he/she can request an independent review of the complaint from the Office of the Ombudsman or Ombudsman for Children. Healthcomplaints.ie is an on-line information service which was developed by the Office of the Ombudsman in cooperation with a number of organisations including the Department of Health and the HSE. This service provides information on how to make a complaint or give feedback about health and social care services in Ireland. This website has been developed for people who use health and social care services in Ireland, as well as for their families, care-givers and advocates.

A National Policy on Open Disclosure was developed jointly by the HSE with the State Claims Agency and launched in November 2013. The Heads of the Bill on legislation to strengthen the provisions under the open disclosure policy by protecting the disclosure from legal proceedings were published on the Department’s website in November 2015. This directly addresses fears that health service providers, doctors and nurses may have that being open can increase the risk of being sued and of that information being used against them in the litigation process.