Department of Health (Ireland): Patient Safety (Notifiable Incidents and Open Disclosure) Act 2023 guidance

Summary

The Patient Safety (Notifiable Incidents and Open Disclosure) Act 2023 (PSA 2023) was signed into law on 2 May 2023. The Act provides for a number of important patient safety issues including:

• The mandatory open disclosure of a list of specified serious patient safety incidents that must be disclosed to the patient and/or their family.
• The mandatory external notification of those same events to the appropriate regulatory body.
• The Act also provides for similar mandatory open disclosure requirements for completed individual patient reviews of their cancer screening by the HSE’s National Screening Service.
• The extension of the Health Information and Quality Authority’s (HIQA) remit into prescribed private health services and private hospitals.
• The Act provides the Chief Inspector within HIQA with a discretionary power to carry out a review of certain serious patient safety incidents which have occurred during the provision of health care in a nursing home (this provision will be commenced at a later date following a required technical amendment).

The overarching purpose of the Act is to support and further embed a culture of openness and transparency in relation to patient safety within the wider healthcare system, including private healthcare. This guidance document is to assist stakeholders in understanding the provisions of the PSA 2023.