QUEENSLAND HEALTH LEADING THE WAY IN PATIENT OPENNESS

1 May, 2008

The Bligh Government will press ahead with plans to roll out full and open disclosure with patients at all public hospitals following recent sign-off by Australian Health Ministers.

Health Minister Stephen Robertson today told State Parliament Queensland was the most advanced of all states to implement a national standard requiring open and honest communication between clinicians and their patients when something goes wrong.

“Queensland has been leading the way since we started piloting open disclosure in major regional and Brisbane hospitals around two years ago,” Mr Robertson said.

“The pilot has worked extremely well and we should have every Queensland Health hospital practising open disclosure by the end of this year.”

“This is yet another demonstration of how the Bligh Government is building a fully open and transparent health system in Queensland.”

Mr Robertson said under the principles of open disclosure, hospitals engage in open communication with patients following an adverse incident about their case.

“They may also involve any other person of the patient’s choosing,” he said.

“The discussion would cover an apology, what had happened, why it happened, and what’s being done to prevent it from happening again.

“Hospitals follow an agreed protocol and initiate a care plan and ongoing channels of communication to ensure the patient understands what is going on and how their case is being managed.

“It’s not only about keeping patients fully informed, it also encourages health professionals to be more open when things go wrong in a hospital so that improvements may be introduced to avoid a repeat.

“It’s fostering a culture of safety and quality in our health system.”

Mr Robertson said seven public hospitals, including Bundaberg, had trialled the practice.

“Other Queensland Health hospitals in the pilot were Cairns, Townsville, Rockhampton, the Royal Brisbane and Women’s, the Princess Alexandra and the QEII,” he said.

“Over the past 12 months, other hospitals have progressively come on board.”

“Queensland took a lead on the pilot and also provided national program management for the Australian Commission for Safety and Quality in Health Care.

“There is international evidence that formal disclosure as part of a proactive response to serious patient harm can reduce litigation claims by up to 80%.

“This shows that in many cases all patients and their families really want is be fully informed about what went wrong in their case.

“Litigation can often be avoided but this is only a secondary by-product of open disclosure.

“The fundamental objective behind open disclosure is openness, honesty and transparency regarding our health system.”

Mr Robertson said the Queensland Health Patient Safety Centre was developing Open Disclosure material to assist hospitals put this into practice.

“In addition, all Queensland Health districts aim to have trained senior doctors or nurses appointed as open disclosure consultants by the end of June,” he said.

“They will be responsible for assisting other clinicians through the formal open disclosure process and ensure that all the patients’ questions are answered.”

Mr Robertson said last month’s Australian Health Minister’s Council meeting, which he chaired, agreed on national implementation.

“The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care has now been instructed to develop an implementation plan and conduct patient surveys on open disclosure to fine tune if needed,” he said.

MEDIA: Joshua Cooney 3234 1185