Disclosure: what is the role of top management in reporting adverse events?
When developing and implementing a disclosure policy or process, it must be understood that each patient and each patient’s safety incident are unique. Thus, the disclosure process requires flexibility to ensure it is effective and meets the information needs of each patient.
After an incident in which a patient was harmed, the priority should be to provide care and deal with emergencies and immediate concerns to prevent or mitigate harm. Depending on the nature of the event, an immediate safety risk may also exist for other patients and, occasionally, even for the team. In this case, if possible, the safety risk should be dealt with and reduced as quickly as possible.
Whenever a patient suffers harm, for whatever reason, the healthcare provider or organization must communicate with the patient about this harm and, as the case may be, the event that led to it.
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