Sir, – In December 2020, the final report of the expert group to review the law of torts and the current systems for the management of clinical negligence was published. This report contained a total of 16 recommendations.
Among the recommendations was one that, “It should be a criminal offence for a healthcare provider to alter medical records with the intent to mislead or deceive.”
It is hard to see how anyone could justify altering a patient’s medical records, yet since 2020 this report has sat unimplemented and worryingly the current Minister for Health has yet to commit to implementation of all the report’s recommendations.
Individuals or organisations who alter patients medical records with the intent to mislead and deceive have no place in our health service.
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Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly now needs to make it clear that the altering of patients’ medical records will not be tolerated and immediately bring forward legislation implementing this and the rest of Mr Justice Charles Meenan’s recommendations. – Yours, etc,
RUARY MARTIN,
Sandyford,
Dublin 18.
