Opposition calls for €30m patient safety watchdog

A €30 MILLION patients watchdog has been jointly proposed by Fine Gael and Labour.

Both parties yesterday presented plans for a new Patient Safety Authority (PSA). They said it would put patients’ needs at the heart of the health service.

Enda Kenny and Pat Rabbitte, who yesterday launched the ‘Patients First’ plan said the new body would have wide-ranging powers of oversight, registration, audit and inspection in Irish hospitals and residential centres for children, elderly people and people with disabilities.