Patient Safety Bill and open disclosure
Mary Lou McDonald attacked the Patient Safety Bill for lacking a firm open-disclosure amendment and criticised the guillotine. The exchange became heated with Government interjections before she condemned the Bill’s handling as insulting to CervicalCheck survivors.
I want to raise the issue of the patient safety Bill. Members will acknowledge and remember that recently, at the time of the death of Vicky Phelan, the Taoiseach reiterated a Government promise to achieve full open disclosure. The legislation is to come before the House and the debate is to be guillotined. The Minister for Health has tabled 50 separate amendments but the one amendment we need to see to prescribe in law the absolute obligation for full open disclosure is not there. The legislation means that a discordant, erroneous or incorrect cancer screening will become a notifiable incident but the duty of candour is not there.
Comment on this
In fact, it will still fall to the woman to require a review.
Comment on this
That is not true. It is false.
Comment on this
This is absolutely outrageous and totally unacceptable.
Comment on this
What the Deputy is saying is not correct.
Comment on this
The fact the Government would seek to move flawed legislation in this way and, furthermore, to guillotine the debate is all the more insulting to the women who have suffered as a result of the CervicalCheck scandal.