Open Disclosure of Patient Safety Incidents in Ireland and Bahrain

Patient safety is central to modern healthcare; breach of patient safety significantly impacts the health of individuals, societies, and economies (1-3). Patient safety incidents (PSIs) are common in healthcare facilities; roughly ten per cent of hospitalised patients end up with a safety incident (4). When safety incidents happen, patients expect the health care professionals (HCPs) to apologise, express sympathy, brief them on details of the incident, and promise investigation so the incident does not happen again in a process known as open disclosure (OD); unfortunately, OD is not offered to patients voluntarily in many cases. Previous work on the health care culture in Ireland concluded that 55% of hospital staff acknowledged barriers surrounding OD, and 24% of respondents identified fear of litigation as the main barrier (5). Our knowledge of HCPs’ compliance with OD policies and laws in Ireland and Bahrain is limited; hence, it was decided to carry out this literature search to explore this issue. The literature search identified a significant lack of research on OD in Bahrain. In addition, the search identified a lack of information on the degree of engagement of HCPs in the process of OD after the Health Service Executive (HSE) in Ireland introduced its OD guidelines in 2013. This study supports the need for more research on the knowledge, attitudes, and the practice of OD in Ireland and Bahrain. Further research is required to assess the impact of introducing OD on healthcare safety in the two countries.