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The 100 patient stories project
The 100 patient stories project has been developed as part of an overall strategy to support and encourage health care staff and facilities to undertake open disclosure in ways that are most effective for patients. The project is being undertaken by a team led by Professor Rick Iedema at the University of Technology Sydney. It will involve:- Collecting one hundred Australian patient narratives of both the experience of adverse events and the experience of open disclosure. Some patients will be asked to participate in video interviews, so that their stories can form part of training for healthcare staff.
- Studying current understandings of and barriers to open disclosure, by interviewing fifty patient safety mangers or hospital administrators.
- Developing and validating two survey instruments (one for staff and one for patients/families) that can be used by health care facilities to monitor and continually improve the effectiveness of their open disclosure practices.
- Developing patient-centred indicators of effective open disclosure.
It is expected that the100 patient stories project will be completed in 2010.
Overcoming legal variation surrounding Open Disclosure
The Commission is working with Professor David Studdert of the University of Melbourne to find a ‘legal clear path’ for Open Disclosure in Australia. Professor Studdert will advise on the changes necessary to implement and achieve a consistent national approach which best enables health services, by qualified privilege and other legislative protection, to:- Fully investigate an adverse event;
- Share information with patients, family and carers about care that caused harm; and,
- Express regret or apologise.
The review will cover state apology laws, state and federal laws relating to qualified privilege, and any other laws that bear upon the practice of Open Disclosure or that may affect the status of information conveyed in Open Disclosures. It will also involve interviews with key hospital staff to explore how well the legal framework surrounding open disclosure is currently used and understood.
It is expected that the legal review will be completed at the end of 2009.
