Medical Council Professional Ethics

Overview

Draft Informed Consent and Clinical Indemnity policies for private clinics in Ireland, aligned with the Irish Medical Council Guide to Professional Conduct and Ethics for Registered Medical Practitioners. For Open Disclosure, the skill ensures protocols meet the mandatory requirements of the Patient Safety (Notifiable Incidents and Open Disclosure) Act 2023. Two validation tools cross-check drafts against the Guide and the Act.

Example conversation

You: We need an Informed Consent policy and an Open Disclosure procedure for our private clinic. Everything should align with the Medical Council and the new Patient Safety Act.

Agent: I’ll draft both. I’ll use the Guide reference for consent (capacity, information, voluntariness, ongoing process) and the Patient Safety Act reference for Open Disclosure (designated person, meeting, written follow-up, notifiable incidents, external notification). Then I’ll run medical_ethics_validator on the consent policy and open_disclosure_checker on the Open Disclosure protocol.

(Agent drafts the policies and runs the tools.)

Agent: I’ve created the two documents. The ethics validator reported that the consent policy aligns with the Guide themes. The Open Disclosure checker found one gap: the designated person role wasn’t explicitly named. I’ve added a short section defining the designated person and their role in supporting the patient through the disclosure process. You can review both drafts in the workspace.

Excerpt of a generated output

medical_ethics_validator (excerpt when run on an Informed Consent policy):

======================================================================
Medical Council Guide — Policy cross-reference
File: informed_consent_policy.md
(Guide to Professional Conduct and Ethics for Registered Medical Practitioners; Ireland)
======================================================================

--- Informed consent ---
  [OK] Capacity to consent
  [OK] Sufficient information / material risk
  [OK] Voluntary consent
  [OK] Ongoing consent / dialogue
  [OK] Right to decline or withdraw

--- Confidentiality / patient data ---
  [OK] Confidentiality of patient information
  [OK] Disclosure only with consent or lawful basis
  [OK] Data protection / GDPR

RESULT: Policy content aligns with the checked Guide themes.
======================================================================

open_disclosure_checker (excerpt when run on an Open Disclosure protocol):

======================================================================
Patient Safety Act 2023 — Open Disclosure mandatory requirements
File: open_disclosure_procedure.md
======================================================================

--- Mandatory process elements ---
  [OK] Designated person
  [OK] Disclosure meeting / discussion
  [OK] Truthful and timely information
  [OK] Apology
  [OK] Written follow-up
  [OK] Notifiable incidents / list
  [OK] External notification / NIMS / regulator

RESULT: All checked mandatory elements present.
======================================================================

Validation tools

• medical_ethics_validator — Cross-references a policy (patient data, Informed Consent, or Clinical Indemnity) with the Medical Council Guide. It checks for consent (capacity, sufficient information, voluntariness, ongoing process, right to decline/withdraw), confidentiality and data protection, and professional indemnity. Use it after drafting or updating consent or indemnity policies.
• open_disclosure_checker — Checks that an Open Disclosure policy or protocol meets the Patient Safety Act 2023: definition (open, honest, compassionate, timely); designated person; disclosure meeting (truthful information, apology); written follow-up; notifiable incidents; external notification (e.g. NIMS, 7 days). Use it after drafting or updating Open Disclosure procedures.

Getting Started

Add any existing policies or drafts to the project workspace, then activate the Medical Council Professional Ethics skill. The agent will draft or revise Informed Consent, Clinical Indemnity, and Open Disclosure documents and run the validators so you can fix any reported gaps.