Patient Safety (Notifiable Incidents and Open Disclosure) Act 2023

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Additional notifiable information to be provided at additional notifiable information meeting

22. (1) When providing the additional notifiable information referred to in section 21 at an additional notifiable information meeting, a health services provider—

(a) shall provide the additional notifiable information in accordance with subsection (2),

(b) may provide the additional notifiable information—

(i) orally, and

(ii) in the order in which the health services provider considers appropriate, having regard to all the circumstances of the patient or the relevant person (or both of them) and the incident concerned,

and

(c) shall, in accordance with section 24 , give the patient or relevant person (or both of them) a copy of the statement referred to in subsection (3).

(2) When providing the additional notifiable information referred to in subsection (1)—

(a) the health services provider shall provide the names of the persons present at the additional notifiable information meeting,

(b) the health services provider shall have regard to the provisions of section 18 (3) and shall specify the provisions of that section to which the additional notifiable information, provided at the additional notifiable information meeting refers,

(c) without prejudice to paragraph (b), where having regard to the additional notifiable information provided, the health services provider has reasonable grounds for believing that further physical or psychological consequences referred to in section 18 (3)(f), are likely to present or develop, the health services provider shall provide further information in respect of—

(i) any physical or psychological consequences which, at the time the additional notifiable information meeting is held, have not presented, or developed, but which, notwithstanding such absence, the health services provider reasonably believes are likely to present or develop at any time after that meeting, and

(ii) any physical or psychological consequences which, at the time of the additional notifiable information meeting, have not presented, or developed, and which the health services provider reasonably believes are less likely or unlikely to present or develop at any time after the holding of that meeting,

(d) without prejudice to paragraph (b) and having regard to the additional notifiable information, where, at the time the additional notifiable information meeting is held—

(i) any physical or psychological consequences arising from the notifiable incident have presented, or developed,

(ii) the patient is under the clinical care of the health services provider concerned,

(iii) having regard to the information referred to in section 18 (3)(h) which was provided at the notifiable incident disclosure meeting, and

(iv) the health services provider proposes to make changes to the treatment, and relevant clinical care, that the provider is providing to the patient to address those consequences,

the health services provider shall provide information relating to those changes to the treatment and clinical care.

(3) The statement referred to in subsection (1)(c), that is to be given to the patient or the relevant person (or both of them) by the health services provider in accordance with that subsection, shall—

(a) be in writing,

(b) set out the additional notifiable information, specified in subsection (2), provided to the patient or the relevant person (or both of them) in accordance with that subsection,

(c) contain an apology referred to in section 21 where such apology was made,

(d) specify the date on which the additional notifiable information was provided to the patient or the relevant person (or both of them), and

(e) be signed in accordance with subsection (4).

(4) The statement referred to in subsection (3) shall be signed by—

(a) the principal health practitioner referred to in section 21 (6)(a), or

(b) the health practitioner referred to in section 21 (6)(b) or (c), who provided the additional notifiable information to the patient or relevant person (or both of them) in accordance with this section.

(5) The health services provider shall keep, in the records referred to in section 25 , the statement referred to in subsection (3).

(6) Nothing in this Act shall operate to prevent the additional notifiable information being provided (and an apology, if any, being made), at the additional notifiable information meeting, to—

(a) both the patient and the relevant person where the open disclosure of the notifiable incident (and an apology, if any) was made to either of them at the notifiable incident disclosure meeting, and

(b) a relevant person where—

(i) the open disclosure of the notifiable incident (and an apology, if any) was made to the patient concerned at the notifiable incident disclosure meeting, and

(ii) the patient died after the notifiable incident disclosure meeting was held.

(7) Section 10 shall apply to—

(a) any information provided (or apology made) to the patient or the relevant person (or both of them) at the additional notifiable information meeting, in the same way as section 10 applies to information provided, and an apology where it is made, at a notifiable incident disclosure meeting, and

(b) the statement referred to in subsection (3) in the same way as it applies to the statement referred to in section 18 (5).