Discovery of a hospital risk management enquiry would not be in the public interest

Discovery – personal injuries – fatal injuries action – medical negligence - parents of girl who died shortly after birth – parents allege that the hospital was negligent in medical treatment provided during the birth – seek discovery of risk management enquiry - whether statements made by hospital staff to that enquiry are discoverable by a patient, the subject of the incident, who is suing the hospital - confidentiality of any statements – litigious advantage - whether statements made by a clinician to a risk management enquiry, although relevant, are ‘necessary’ and so should be discovered to the parents or whether they are covered by one of the exceptions that apply to discovery - legal professional privilege - whether the public interest in the truth-finding function of the courts is outweighed by the interests of the common good in improving patient outcomes by ensuring that a clinician is as candid as possible to a risk management enquiry (including being justifiably or unjustifiably critical of her own actions or other clinician’s actions), just as she would be to her own lawyer - the staff who made statements to the Enquiry were assured that those statements would be confidential - risk management enquiries aimed at improving future patient care will be completely undermined of they cannot assure confidentiality – the enquiry – relevant law - whether it is in the public interest to require the statements to be disclosed, notwithstanding their confidentiality - ad hoc enquiry with no power to compel the attendance of witnesses or the production of documents - it is in the interests of the common good that there should be no obstacle or disincentive to hospital staff agreeing to participate in an enquiry, whose primary, if not sole, aim is to improve the outcomes for patients in the future - should be no disincentive to staff being as frank as possible to that enquiry – it is in the the public interest of improving patient care that they be encouraged to make those statements safe in the knowledge that any such statements will not be disclosed for the purposes of future litigation – public interest of improving patient care – discovery refused –