Patient Safety (Notifiable Incidents and Open Disclosure) Act 2023

• Permanent Page URL

Refusal, by patient or relevant person, to participate in open disclosure of notifiable incident

19. (1) Nothing in this Act shall require a patient to engage with the health services provider in the open disclosure of a notifiable incident and—

(a) a patient may authorise a relevant person not to attend the notifiable incident disclosure meeting, and

(b) where a relevant person refuses to attend the notifiable incident disclosure meeting, the health services provider shall inform the patient of the refusal and the patient may specify another relevant person to attend that meeting.

(2) Where a health services provider informs a patient or a relevant person that the provider proposes to hold a notifiable incident disclosure meeting in order to make an open disclosure of the notifiable incident and the patient or relevant person does not want to have the open disclosure made to him or her and refuses to attend that notifiable incident disclosure meeting, the patient, or a relevant person, shall inform the provider that he or she—

(a) will not attend the notifiable incident disclosure meeting,

(b) does not want to receive the information which is to be provided at that meeting, and

(c) does not want to receive, having regard to section 5 (2) and section 14 , any additional notifiable information that may be provided (or apology that may be made) pursuant to section 21 .

(3) Where a patient or a relevant person informs a health services provider of the matters specified in subsection (2), the provider shall—

(a) set out a statement in writing of those matters,

(b) include, in the statement referred to in paragraph (a), a reference to the entitlement under subsection (7) for the patient to make a later request for a notifiable incident disclosure meeting despite the refusal referred to in subsection (2),

(c) sign that statement and specify the date on which it was signed,

(d) give the patient or relevant person a copy of that statement which has, in accordance with paragraph (c), been signed by the provider, as soon as practicable,

(e) maintain the statement which has, in accordance with paragraph (c), been signed by the provider, in the records referred to in section 25 , and

(f) pursuant to that statement, not proceed to hold the notifiable incident disclosure meeting.

(4) Where section 7 (1)(c) applies and a health services provider informs both a patient and a relevant person that the provider proposes to hold a notifiable incident disclosure meeting in order to make an open disclosure of the notifiable incident and both the patient and relevant person do not want to have the open disclosure made to them and refuse to attend that notifiable incident disclosure meeting, the patient and relevant person shall inform that provider that—

(a) they will not attend the notifiable incident disclosure meeting,

(b) they do not want to receive the information which is to be provided at that meeting, and

(c) they do not want to receive, having regard to section 5 (2) and section 14 , any additional notifiable information that may be provided (or apology that may be made) pursuant to section 21 .

(5) Where a patient and a relevant person informs a health services provider of the matters specified in subsection (4), the provider shall—

(a) set out a statement in writing of those matters,

(b) include, in the statement referred to in paragraph (a), a reference to the entitlement under subsection (7) for the patient to make a later request for a notifiable incident disclosure meeting despite the refusal referred to in subsection (2),

(c) sign the statement referred to in paragraph (a) and specify the date on which it was signed,

(d) provide the patient and the relevant person who has informed the provider of those matters with a copy of the statement which has, in accordance with paragraph (c), been signed by the provider, as soon as practicable,

(e) maintain the statement which has, in accordance with paragraph (c), been signed by the provider, in the records referred to in section 25 , and

(f) pursuant to that statement, not proceed to hold the notifiable incident disclosure meeting.

(6) Where a patient, or a relevant person, refuses to accept receipt of the statement referred to in subsection (3)(d), or subsection (5)(d), the provider shall—

(a) make a note in writing of that refusal,

(b) include, in the note referred to in paragraph (a), the incident to be disclosed and the date of the incident (if known),

(c) sign the note referred to in paragraph (a) and specify the date of signing, and

(d) keep, in the records referred to in section 25 , the note referred to in paragraph (a), which has been signed in accordance with paragraph (c).

(7) Where a patient or a relevant person has, or as the case may be both of them have, refused to engage with the health services provider in the making of an open disclosure of a notifiable incident, the patient may, within 5 years from the date of the refusal, request the health services provider to make the open disclosure.

(8) A request referred to in subsection (7) may be made orally and the provider shall keep a note of the request in writing specifying the date of the request and the person who made it.

(9) Where the health services provider receives a request under subsection (7), it shall hold a notifiable incident disclosure meeting.

(10) The health services provider shall keep, in the records referred to in section 25 , the note referred to in subsection (8).

(11) Nothing in subsection (1) to (5) shall operate to prevent the making of a notification under Part 4 in respect of that notifiable incident.