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	Minister for Health Leo Varadkar has announced Government approval for a range of measures to improve patient safety.</p>
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	They will include the establishment of a National Patient Safety Office, enhanced powers for the Ombudsman and the Health Information and Quality Authority and a simplified complaints procedure.</p>
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	Many of the measures announced today have been in the pipeline for some time, but now they have been brought together as a package and approved by the Cabinet.</p>
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	The measures include the establishment of an independent patient safety office, and a new service which will advocate on behalf of patients.</p>
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	The process for making a complaint about the health service will be simplified, and extra powers will be granted to the health watchdog HIQA and to the Ombudsman to deal with medical as well as management complaints.</p>
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	Mr Varadkar said the Government plans to introduce legal reforms to reduce the length of court cases involving patients who have suffered because of medical mistakes.</p>
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	In the case of patients who receive compensation for long-term damage or injury, they will be awarded an annual, index-linked payment instead of a lump sum.</p>
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	The minister said new legislation will be introduced to support the principle of open disclosure where doctors who have made medical mistakes would be required to be open and transparent with patients.</p>
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	There will also be a national patient experience survey to report on people&#39;s attitudes towards the health service.</p>
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	Speaking on RT&Eacute;&rsquo;s Morning Ireland, Mr Varadkar said it will take up to two years to &ldquo;fully bed down&rdquo; the measures.</p>
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	He said work is already under way and has been for some time.</p>
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	While it will be mandatory for staff to report a serious incident, open disclosure would not become mandatory.</p>
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	&quot;This was studied and looked at by the Patient Safety Commission quite some time ago, and the general conclusion is that the best way to bring about a culture of openness in the health service is not actually legal requirements, it&#39;s rather to support open disclosure,&rdquo; said Mr Varadkar.</p>
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	&ldquo;So what we&#39;ll do in legislation... the idea behind it is to protect open disclosure, to allow doctors midwives, nurses, other people who are frontline staff, to offer an apology for example but not have it necessarily used against them in a court of law.</p>
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	&ldquo;That&#39;s one of the reasons why they don&#39;t do it, they fear it will be used against them as an emission of liability.&quot;</p>
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	<a href="http://www.rte.ie/news/2015/1112/741285-health-service/">http://www.rte.ie/news/2015/1112/741285-health-service/</a></p>
