Evaluation of the pilot of the National Open Disclosure Standard

Pilot of the National Open Disclosure Standard

The National Open Disclosure Standard (PDF 495 KB) was developed by the former Australian Council for Safety and Quality in Health Care and endorsed by the Australian Health Ministers’ Conference in July 2003. In January 2005, Ministers endorsed an implementation plan developed by the Council, which included piloting the National Open Disclosure Standard in the public and private sectors.

The pilot of the standard involved 40 facilities in 7 jurisdictions and the private sector. Start dates varied, but the pilot officially concluded in December 2007. The pilot included development by jurisdictions and participating facilities of open disclosure policies, protocols and tools. Some jurisdictions have also proceeded to train all public sector health professionals in open disclosure and are fully implementing open disclosure. Pilot sites were highly variable in scale (from a single ward to an entire state), in their subsequent practical experience of open disclosure, and in the extent and nature of the open disclosure training provided.

External evaluation of the open disclosure pilot

The brief for the external evaluation of the pilot was shaped by the wide variation between open disclosure pilot sites. The brief to the evaluators was fourfold:

• what is it about this kind of intervention that works;
• for whom does it work;
• in what respects does it work; and
• why does it work?

The evaluators have met this brief, producing a detailed report of utility for consumers, clinicians and managers concerned to improve the practice of open disclosure in Australia.

The Evaluation of the Pilot of the National Open Disclosure Standard (PDF 801 KB)

Updated: 03 April, 2008

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