Patient Safety (Notifiable Incidents and Open Disclosure) Act 2023

PART 3

Procedure for making Open Disclosure of Notifiable Incident

Making of open disclosure of notifiable incident by health services provider

13. (1) For the purposes of section 5 , the open disclosure of a notifiable incident shall be made on behalf of a health services provider by—

(a) the principal health practitioner, in relation to the patient to whom, or in respect of whom, the open disclosure of the notifiable incident is to be made, or

(b) where the conditions specified in subsection (2) are satisfied, a health practitioner referred to in that subsection.

(2) Where, for the purposes of subsection (1)

(a) the principal health practitioner referred to in paragraph (a) of that subsection is not available or otherwise not in a position to make the open disclosure of the notifiable incident, or

(b) having had regard to the circumstances of the notifiable incident, the health services provider, or the principal health practitioner referred to in paragraph (a) of that subsection, is satisfied that the open disclosure of that incident should be made by another health practitioner,

the open disclosure of that notifiable incident shall be made by a health practitioner whom the health services provider, having considered the incident concerned, considers appropriate.