Labour TD for Tipperary, Alan Kelly is calling for urgent action to be taken to make the Patient Safety Bill fit for purpose and says the Taoiseach must honour his promise to Vicky Phelan to introduce open disclosure before Christmas. Open disclosure means that those providing care will discuss adverse events that result in harm to a patient while receiving health care with the patient, their family and carers.
Deputy Kelly says the Bill as it is currently constituted is not fit for purpose. For 12 of the 13 conditions in relation to open disclosure the person would have to have passed away which he says is simply not good enough. Deputy Kelly is also asking why no audits have been done since Vicky’s Phelan’s case was made public in 2018. The Portroe based TD says it is indefensible and could put lives at risk.
Deputy Kelly, who became a good friend to the late Ms Phelan, also wants a greater effort to be made to provide all laboratory services in Ireland to process cervical screenings. The HSE is to open a new laboratory in the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital (CWIUH) in Dublin by the end of this year but says it will be several years before it will be able to deliver sufficient capacity for all cervical screening testing to be completed in Ireland.
