MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE PATIENT SAFETY 1.6Ai
UNDEFINED NOTIFABLE INCIDENT
Dr. Gabriel Scally has said that the Patient Safety Bill (now the Patient Safety Act 2023) is really quite narrow in scope and there remains the need to provide Patients with the right to make a complaint about their clinical treatment. Dr. Scally also told RTE that while the Minister could add other incidents where open disclosure should apply, at present the rights to open disclosure only arose in the 2023 Patient Safety Act when the Patient died.
In the example given at news item Medical Negligence Patient Safety 1.6A on the 30th June 2025, this was an example of a Notifiable Incident involving negligence in medication administration but which did not involve a death. If as a result of this mediation administration, the Patient had died, then that would be a notifiable incident and under the Act of 2023.
There appears to be no good reason why this incident should not be a notifiable incident and the Minister has an opportunity under Section 8 to introduce regulations to cover such an incident and there does not appear to be any proposal to do so at present.
For more detailed insights into how the Patient Safety Act 2023 impacts you and how Whelan Law can support you, please visit our Patient Safety Rights Legal Advice https://www.whelanlaw.ie/news/medical-negligence-and-patient-safety/