The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) and the Medical Council have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to work closely together for the benefit of safeguarding patients in Ireland.

The MoU signals a commitment by both organisations to work closely together on the regulation of health and social services and the regulation of medical practitioners in Ireland for the benefit of the public.

The MoU was signed on behalf of HIQA by Dr Tracey Cooper, Chief Executive and Pat McGrath, former Chairperson and on behalf of the Medical Council by Caroline Spillane, Chief Executive and Professor Kieran Murphy, President. It states that the two organisations will honour the agreement by:

• promoting co-operation on areas of strategic and high-level operational interest
• facilitating co-operation on cross-referral of concerns, where one organisation believes that it falls within the remit of the other
• collaborating on communication and patient safety information sharing activities.

Dr Tracey Cooper, Chief Executive of HIQA said: “This Memorandum of Understanding is an important step forward for our two organisations to show our commitment to partnership and collaborative working in regulating Ireland’s health services. I look forward to building on our relationship with the Medical Council into the future.

Failures in communication between health agencies were recently highlighted and reported as one of the causes of a large number of deaths at the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust hospital in England. Learning lessons from this, the MoU will cover areas of common interest for the two bodies, leading to better safeguarding of patients and more informed regulation of the health and social care services in Ireland that fall within the remit of the two organisations.”

Caroline Spillane, Chief Executive Officer of the Medical Council added: “Collaboration is vital among organisations within the health system to ensure that patients receive appropriate care. While the Council and HIQA already have a close working relationship, this MOU will formalise procedures to facilitate information sharing where there is a perceived shortfall in the standards that patients should expect.”

A full copy of the Memorandum of Understanding is available at www.hiqa.ie and www.medicalcouncil.ie

ENDS

Further Information: 

Marty Whelan, Head of Communications and Stakeholder Engagement, Health Information and Quality Authority, 086 2447 623, mwhelan@hiqa.ie

Lorna Farren, Communications Manager, Medical Council, 087 9130288, lfarren@mcirl.ie