Our Director of Education, Policy and Standards, Carolyn Donohoe took part in a panel discussion at the National Patient Safety Office (NPSO) Conference 2023 on 19 October.

Pictured (L to R): Seán Egan, Professor Catherine McHugh; Bernie O’Reilly, Carolyn Donohoe; Maurice O’Donnell; Lorraine Schwanberg; Angela Tysall and Georgia Cruise

The conference offers a forum for health professionals, regulators, policy makers, educators, researchers, health service managers and patient representatives to areas of quality, patient safety and clinical effectiveness.

The panel, chaired by Kate O’Flaherty, NPSO Director, discussed the Next Steps for Open Disclosure which was followed by a questions and answers session. Carolyn discussed the importance of role of nurses and midwives within the multidisciplinary team and having the confidence to speak up and follow up when things don’t always go right in healthcare. One way put forward of strengthening our professions is to engage in inter-disciplinary learning from day one of our education as students to enable every member of the team to feel that their voice is valued and respected.

Joining Carolyn on the panel discussion were:

• Bernie O’Reilly, Representative from Patients for Patient Safety Ireland
• Maurice O’Donnell, Head of Patient Safety Legislation and Advocacy, NPSO
• Lorraine Schwanberg, HSE Assistant National Director, QPSIM (Incident Management, Open Disclosure and NIMS)
• Angela Tysall, HSE General Manager National Open Disclosure Office, Quality and Patient Safety Directorate
• Georgina Cruise, National Manager of the Patient Advocacy Service
• Seán Egan, Director of Healthcare Regulation, Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA)
• Professor Catherine McHugh, Open Disclosure Champion, Consultant Endocrinologist at Sligo University Hospital.

Attendees also heard from Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly; Rachel Kenna, Chief Nursing Officer at the Department of Health; Robert Watt, Secretary General, Department of Health and Bernard Gloster, HSE CEO.