The Minister for Health has directed the Medical Council to adopt a “more proactive role” in the area of patient safety, the Medical Independent (MI) has learned.
According to minutes of a high-level governance meeting between Department of Health and Council representatives in July 2025, the Council was developing a paper “on what that might look like”.
The minutes were released by the Department under Freedom of Information law.
A Department spokesperson told MI: “The Minister for Health [Jennifer Carroll MacNeill] met the Medical Council on two occasions in 2025 and emphasised the need for the Council to take a more proactive role in relation to public protection and patient safety to ensure that patient safety systems work together to address any issues arising and prevent future incidents as much as possible.”
Minister Carroll MacNeill “wishes to see the Medical Council interact more closely with the existing patient safety structures and processes” (ie, the patient safety infrastructure). This will ensure that “all parts of the health service that have a role in public protection are ultimately working together to remedy any issues impacting the safety of patients”.
The Council was “considering ways to enhance the existing patient safety apparatus, raise awareness of its role, and facilitate learning within the health service”. Engagement between the Department and the Council will continue into 2026 to develop proposals in this area.
The Department spokesperson added: “The Medical Council has also been progressing its public protection role by developing and publishing guidance notes on matters of interest to doctors and the general public, including recent releases on artificial intelligence and Botulinum toxin (Botox).”
A Medical Council spokesperson told MI its remit is protection of the public, which includes patient safety.
“All our regulatory responsibilities, eg, registration, education and training, and complaints, are delivered with a patient safety focus. Essentially, this means that the Medical Council ensures registered doctors have the appropriate qualifications; that the education, training, and lifelong learning of doctors is compliant with standards; and where issues are raised about a doctor, this is addressed through our complaints process.”
The Council is “continually evolving” its regulatory activities to be “compassionate and proportionate” and responsive to risk.
“Central to this is actively working with key stakeholders including the Department of Health and other regulatory bodies, both nationally and internationally, to increase and enhance patient safety messaging.”
This work has included publishing reports and position statements on relevant topics, including overprescribing of benzodiazepines, Z-drugs, and gabapentinoids; antimicrobial resistance; and statutory regulation of physician assistants/associates, among other issues.
“Presently, we are exploring how we increase our voice to influence patient safety. This will lead to the development of a patient safety strategy. Central to this will be the establishment of a patient advisory panel to ensure the voice of patients is heard and contributes to delivering a right touch regulatory approach. Effective implementation will be reliant on cross-organisation collaboration.”
The Council’s CEO, Dr Maria O’Kane, has been engaging with the Department and professional medical bodies to “better understand” how implementation of this work can “best interface with existing patient safety infrastructure”. This work was “ongoing and evolving”.
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