Tuesday, 5 September 2007: The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) is hosting a major international conference in partnership with the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Patient Safety tomorrow (Thursday 6th September) in Dublin. Patient safety is at the heart of HIQA's role and the conference will launch a major international collaboration on patient safety. The Authority and WHO will develop an international consensus guide for use by WHO member states and others in the event of a patient incident and identify best practice for communicating and supporting patients, families and clinicians in the aftermath of a safety incident.

“The timing of this conference could not be more appropriate especially in light of recent revelations. It is of the utmost importance that when a patient suffers from an adverse healthcare incident, they are openly communicated with, staff are supported, action is taken and lessons are learnt” said Tracey Cooper, Chief Executive, The Health Information and Quality Authority.

“The responsibility and accountability for reducing such incidents sits with healthcare organisations, their staff and the wider healthcare system to ensure that the culture throughout our health service is one that acts to prevent adverse incidents happening in the first place and, when things do go wrong, responds appropriately, actively and supportively. This conference is an opportunity for all stakeholders to discuss the challenges to patient safety, to learn from the experiences in other countries and to share the successful steps they have taken to enhance patient safety, reduce healthcare errors, and improve healthcare quality”.

“It is HIQA’s view that there must be uniformity of standards across the health system and that at the very least patients are entitled to expect equity and that the same standards will apply and be enforced, regardless of where a patient is receiving treatment.”

International speakers at the conference include Sir Liam Donaldson, Chairman, World Health Organization, World Alliance for Patient Safety, Professor Cliff Hughes, CEO, Clinical Excellence Commission, NSW, Australia and from the USA, Professor Albert Wu, Professor of Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Speakers from Ireland will include Deirdre Madden Chair of Ireland’s Patient Safety and Quality Assurance Commission, Dr Tracey Cooper, CEO, Health Information and Quality Authority, Dr. Mary Hynes, Assistant Director Quality, Risk and Consumer Affairs, Health Service Executive and Hilary Coates, Patient Safety International Liaison with the Health Information and Quality Authority.

Mary Harney TD, Minister for Health and Children will open the conference which is being held in Croke Park Conference Centre.

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For further information please contact:
Marty Whelan, Head of Communications and Stakeholder Engagement
01 604 1785 / 086 244 7623
mwhelan@hiqa.ie