“Making the Most of your Consultant Post” conference supports Patient Safety Initiative

Following the recent launch of the Patient Safety First initiative in Ireland, Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan today gave the keynote address at the MPS conference Making the Most of Your Consultant Post.

MPS is pleased to see that ‘being open with patients’ is part of the wider patient safety programme in improving the safety and quality of healthcare services in Ireland.

The full-day conference offered practical advice on surviving and succeeding the first few years as a consultant and getting the most out of a consultant post. It brought together experts who shared their wisdom and experience in areas, including handling adverse outcomes, reputation management, leadership, pitfalls of practice and the patient perspective.

Dr Stephanie Bown, Director of Policy and Communications, Medical Protection Society said: “MPS has been providing doctors in Ireland with professional support and expert advice, as well as indemnity for over fifty years – we understand our members’ needs, and have tailored a programme which addresses topical and relevant issues faced by senior registrars and newly qualified consultants.

“The conference also provides practical tools to help doctors deal with adverse events. For many years we have advised doctors to be open with patients following an adverse incident.  We encourage practitioners to provide a prompt, empathetic and above all truthful account of what has happened along with an apology. Being open with patients is the right thing to do morally, professionally and ethically.”

MPS is committed to supporting our members in Ireland so that they can provide their patients with the best possible care. In this year alone more than 300 doctors have attended MPS half-day workshops in Ireland on communication, risk and managing adverse outcomes, and a further 20 workshops planned for the first half of 2011.

Further information

For further information or to arrange an interview please contact: Stella-Maris Zegge, Press Officer at MPS, on 020 7399 1409 or email stella.zegge@mps.org.uk.