[More safety for patients requires confidentiality in the enquiry into medical errors].
Recently, a seven-month-old baby died after a cardiac intervention and a medical error was presumed. An independent committee investigated this mishap after the confidentiality of the report was guaranteed. However, because of a judicial ruling, the report had to be made public, which caused great upheaval. To improve safety, error management requires confidential investigation to ensure co-operation of all parties involved. There are two conflicting and irreconcilable aims: medical professionals want to establish what went wrong, legal professionals want to establish who is at fault. The position of investigative committees should be (legally) fortified with a guarantee of confidentiality and sound underlying principles of investigation should be delineated.
Giard
R W M
RW
Medisch Centrum Rijnmond-Zuid, afd. Klinische Pathologie, Olympiaweg 350, 3078 HT Rotterdam. giardr@mcrz.nl
D003219:Confidentiality / Q000941:ethics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000941:ethics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D009426:Netherlands; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations / Q000941:ethics