Medical Indemnity: Presented by the Health Policy Unit

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Medical Indemnity Presented by the Health
Policy Unit
Chair Robyn McDermott
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Setting the context and identifying the challenges

• Fiona Tito

Chair Robyn McDermott
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Setting the context and identifying the challenge

• Fiona Tito - Enduring Solutions
• RACP Annual Scientific Meeting
• Hobart May 2003

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The broader context

• Knowledge and questioning
• Affect on status of all professionals
• Fear
• Culture change in health care
• Team v individual
• To err is human v professional perfectionism
• Participation in decisions which affect our life

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Anger and fear

• We can tolerate the patients irrational or
  rational anger only if we are not afraid and
  therefore not so defensive. We have to learn to
  listen to our patients and at times to accept
  some irrational anger knowing that the relief in
  expressing it will help them toward a better
  acceptance of the final hours. We can do this
  only when we have faced our own fears of death,
  our own destructive wishes and have become aware
  of our own defences which may interfere with our
  patient care.
• Elizabeth Kubler-Ross On Death and Dying

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What is needed

• Trust creation
• Learning from mistakes
• Accepting responsibility and following through
• Creating real partnerships
• Designing the system to reflect these values

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A trustworthy organisation

• The organisation tells the truth and deals
  honestly with consumers and staff even if that
  is not in its best short term interests.
• The organisations processes are open and
  transparent.
• The organisation learns from its mistakes and
  invites feedback.
• There is good communication within the
  organisation and between consumers and the
  organisation..
• Consumers, carers and professionals are all
  treated with respect.
• All people in the organisation are all expected
  to have the interests of consumers as their
  paramount concern and the organisation supports
  them in this.

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Challenges

• Changing ourselves
• Creating trust
• Inviting feedback
• Finding out what is going wrong
• Listening