THE health minister has said he hopes to introduce legislation for a statutory duty of candour in the health service by the end of the current Assembly mandate.
On Monday, a motion from Alliance was passed that called for the legislation to be introduced.
It would make both organisations and individuals legally compelled to admit when mistakes are made, rather than just to professional bodies like the General Medical Council.
Alliance denied this was an attempt to criminalise health workers for mistakes, but for attempts to cover them up.
The motion said that while “the overwhelming majority of staff” were committed to the highest standards of care, a statutory duty of candour would address cases of abuse, negligence and failing in health and social care settings.
It also expressed concern that “limited progress” had been made since the beginning of an inquiry into hyponatraemia-related deaths 20 years ago.
Opening the debate, Alliance MLA Nuala McAllister said that after the Hyponatraemia Inquiry had examined the deaths of five children in Northern Ireland, there had been “consistent” calls for a statutory duty of candour.
“Despite this, I stand here 20 years later with very little progress to note from the Department of Health and a string of health ministers,” she said.
“Unfortunately, within those 20 years we have also seen a number of scandals which could and should have been prevented.
“The actions of Dr Michael Watt, the infected blood scandal, abuse in Muckamore, urology and cervical smear reviews.. just to name a few.”
Alliance also supported a Sinn Féin amendment that said any duty of care legislation should have the input of affected families as well as health and social care workers.
Ms McAllister said the proposed legislation was not calling for mistakes to be criminalised, claiming this was a misunderstanding “carelessly” shared by the Department of Health.
“Mistakes are human, doctors and healthcare staff are not immune to making mistakes,” she said.
“That is not the issue at hand...we recognise the threshold must be high for when there is intentional cover up, but we also recognise that accountability must take place.”
She added that the professional duty of candour that health workers currently follow was not enough, including for the family of Claire Roberts (9) who died at Belfast’s Royal Hospital for Sick Children in 1996.
The Hyponatraemia Inquiry later found there had been a “cover-up” into how she died, with her family calling for a statutory duty of candour.
Responding to the debate, Health Minister Mike Nesbitt spoke of meeting many of the families affected by different health scandals and said it was his “ambition” to introduce legislation by the end of the mandate.
Praising the vast majority of health and social care workers, he agreed there was a greater need for openness when things go wrong.
He added there was “concern and fear” around the duty of candour proposals, including what the implication might be of an individual criminal sanction being introduced that only applied in Northern Ireland.
He said that existing professional standards meant staff were already had a high standard of candour, but the legislation would address cover ups.
“It’s clear that a lack of openness when things do go wrong can be devastating for patients and families,” he said.
✅ Alliance Duty of Candour Motion: PASSED.
— Alliance Party (@allianceparty) November 11, 2024
Mistakes are human, but we must have appropriate openness, transparency, and accountability when they occur in our health service, says @NualaMcAllister 👇 pic.twitter.com/UXAaGx13pD
