Civil Liability (Amendment) Act 2017
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PART 4 Open Disclosure of Patient Safety Incidents | ||
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Chapter 1 General | ||
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Interpretation | ||
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7. (1) In this Part— | ||
“Act of 1985” means the Dentists Act 1985 ; | ||
“Act of 2005” means the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 ; | ||
“Act of 2007” means the Medical Practitioners Act 2007 ; | ||
“Act of 2010” means the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010 ; | ||
“Act of 2011” means the Nurses and Midwives Act 2011 ; | ||
“additional information” shall be construed in accordance with section 18 (1); | ||
“additional information meeting” has the meaning assigned to it by section 18 ; | ||
“agency contract”, in relation to a health services provider, means a contract between an employment agency and a health services provider by virtue of which an agency worker or an agency health practitioner— | ||
(a) is assigned to work for the health services provider, and in the case of an agency health practitioner, to provide a health service, for (or on behalf of) the health services provider, and | ||
(b) remains under the direction and supervision of the health services provider; | ||
“agency health practitioner”, in relation to a health services provider, means an agency worker who— | ||
(a) is a health practitioner, and | ||
(b) under an agency contract, is assigned to work for the health services provider, and the work to be carried out is to provide a health service for (or on behalf of) the health services provider, | ||
and a reference to an agency health practitioner, in relation to a health services provider, shall be construed as a reference to an agency health practitioner who provides a health service for the health services provider and is under the direction and supervision of that health services provider; | ||
“agency worker”, in relation to a health services provider, means a person who is employed by an employment agency under a contract of employment by virtue of which that person may be assigned to work for the health services provider, and a reference to an agency worker, in relation to a health services provider, shall be construed as a reference to an agency worker who works for a health services provider and is under the direction and supervision of that provider; | ||
“apology”, in relation to an open disclosure of a patient safety incident, means an expression of sympathy or regret; | ||
“designated person” means a person designated under section 15 (1)(e); | ||
“employee”, in relation to a health services provider, means— | ||
(a) a person who— | ||
(i) has entered into, or works under (or where the employment has ceased, had entered into or worked under), a contract of employment, with the health services provider, or | ||
(ii) is (or was) placed for the purpose of vocational training with the health services provider, | ||
and | ||
(b) a fixed-term employee of the health services provider, | ||
and a reference to an employee, in relation to a health services provider, shall be construed as a reference to an employee employed by that health services provider; | ||
“employment agency” has the meaning assigned to it by the Employment Agency Act 1971 ; | ||
“fixed-term employee” means an employee of a health services provider whose employment is governed by a contract of employment for a fixed-term or for a specified purpose, being a purpose of a kind that the duration of the contract was limited but was, at the time of its making, incapable of precise ascertainment; | ||
“health practitioner” means— | ||
(a) a registered medical practitioner within the meaning of the Act of 2007 or a medical practitioner practising medicine pursuant to section 50 of that Act, | ||
(b) a registered dentist within the meaning of the Act of 1985, | ||
(c) a registered pharmacist, or registered pharmaceutical assistant, within the meaning of the Pharmacy Act 2007 , | ||
(d) a registered nurse, or registered midwife, within the meaning of the Act of 2011, | ||
(e) a registrant within the meaning of section 3 of the Act of 2005, or | ||
(f) a person whose name is entered in the register referred to in Article 4(s) of the Order of 2000; | ||
“health service” means a health or personal social service (including personal care and any ancillary matter relating to the health or personal social service) provided to a patient— | ||
(a) for— | ||
(i) the screening, preservation or improvement of the health of the patient, or | ||
(ii) the prevention, diagnosis, treatment or care of an illness, injury or health condition of the patient, | ||
and | ||
(b) by or under the direction of a health services provider; | ||
“health services provider” means— | ||
(a) a person, other than a health practitioner, who provides one or more health services and for that purpose— | ||
(i) employs a health practitioner for the provision (whether for, or on behalf of, that person) by that practitioner, of a health service, | ||
(ii) enters into a contract for services with a health practitioner for the provision (whether for, or on behalf of, that person) by that health practitioner of a health service, | ||
(iii) enters into an agency contract for the assignment, by an employment agency, of an agency health practitioner to provide a health service for, or on behalf of, that person, | ||
(iv) enters into an arrangement with a health practitioner— | ||
(I) for the provision by that health practitioner of a health service (whether for, or on behalf of, that person, or through or in connection with that person), | ||
(II) for the provision by that health practitioner of a health service on his or her own behalf (whether through or in connection with, or by or on behalf of, that person or otherwise), or | ||
(III) without prejudice to the generality of clause (II), to provide that health practitioner with privileges commonly known as practising privileges (whether such privileges are to operate through or in connection with, or by or on behalf of, the person or otherwise), | ||
or | ||
(v) insofar as it relates to the carrying on of the business of providing a health service— | ||
(I) employs one or more persons, | ||
(II) enters into a contract for services with one or more persons, | ||
(III) enters into an agency contract for the assignment of an agency worker, or | ||
(IV) enters into an arrangement with one or more persons, | ||
in respect of the carrying on of that business, | ||
or | ||
(b) a health practitioner who, or a partnership which, provides a health service and does not provide that health service for, or on behalf of, or through or in connection with (whether by reason of employment or otherwise), a person referred to in paragraph (a) and includes a health practitioner who, or a partnership which— | ||
(i) employs another health practitioner for the provision (whether for, or on behalf of, the first-mentioned health practitioner or the partnership) by that other health practitioner of a health service, | ||
(ii) enters into a contract for services with another health practitioner for the provision (whether for, or on behalf of, the first-mentioned health practitioner or the partnership) by that other health practitioner, of a health service, | ||
(iii) enters into an agency contract for the assignment, by an employment agency, of an agency health practitioner to provide a health service for, or on behalf of, the first-mentioned health practitioner or the partnership, or | ||
(iv) insofar as it relates to the carrying on of the business of providing a health service— | ||
(I) employs one or more persons, | ||
(II) enters into a contract for services with one or more persons, | ||
(III) enters into an agency contract for the assignment of an agency worker, or | ||
(IV) enters into an arrangement with one or more persons, | ||
in respect of the carrying on of that business; | ||
“making an open disclosure” shall be construed in accordance with section 9 ; | ||
“Minister” means the Minister for Health; | ||
“open disclosure meeting” has the meaning assigned to it by section 16 ; | ||
“open disclosure of a patient safety incident” shall be construed in accordance with section 9 and references to the open disclosure of a patient safety incident or open disclosure, in relation to a patient safety incident, shall be construed accordingly; | ||
“Order of 2000” means the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council (Establishment) Order 2000 ( S.I. No. 109 of 2000 ) amended by the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council (Establishment) Order 2000 (Amendment) Order 2004 ( S.I. No. 575 of 2004 ); | ||
“partnership” means 2 or more health practitioners who provide a health service in common; | ||
“patient” means, in relation to a health services provider, a person to whom a health service is, or has been, provided; | ||
“patient safety incident” shall be construed in accordance with section 8 ; | ||
“prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister under this Part; | ||
“principal health practitioner”, in relation to a patient, means a health practitioner who has the principal clinical responsibility for the clinical care and treatment of the patient; | ||
“relevant person”, in relation to a patient, means a person— | ||
(a) who is— | ||
(i) a parent, guardian, son or daughter, | ||
(ii) a spouse, or | ||
(iii) a civil partner (within the meaning of the Act of 2010), | ||
of the patient, | ||
(b) who is cohabiting with the patient (including a cohabitant within the meaning of Part 15 of the Act of 2010), or | ||
(c) whom the patient has nominated in writing to the health services provider as a person to whom clinical information in relation to the patient may be disclosed. | ||
(2) References in this Part to— | ||
(a) “information provided”, or an “apology made”, at an open disclosure meeting, | ||
(b) “additional information provided”, or “apology made”, at an additional information meeting, or | ||
(c) information provided in a clarification under section 19 , | ||
include information that is provided, or an apology that is made, orally or in writing. | ||
(3) For the purposes of paragraph (b) of the definition of “health services provider”, references in that paragraph to “through or in connection with” do not include the use by a health services provider referred to in that paragraph of a health service (or processes related to a health service) provided— | ||
(a) by a health services provider referred to in paragraph (a) of that definition, and | ||
(b) for the purpose of the provision, by a health services provider referred to in paragraph (b) of that definition, of health services on its own behalf (including, as the case may be, on behalf of a partnership). |