Open disclosure.

1. Commitment

Dr Amir Waly is committed to open, honest, and timely communication with patients and their families when something has gone wrong in their healthcare — including events that caused harm, events that could have caused harm, and unexpected outcomes that were not the intended result of care.

2. What open disclosure means

Open disclosure is a structured process of communication that includes:

• An apology or expression of regret — including the word “sorry”.
• A factual explanation of what happened, in language you can understand.
• An opportunity for you to share your experience and ask questions.
• A discussion of what will be done to address any consequences for you.
• A discussion of what steps will be taken to prevent the event recurring.

An apology and an expression of regret are not, by themselves, an admission of legal liability. They reflect compassion and respect for the person affected.

3. When open disclosure applies

Open disclosure applies whenever:

• You have experienced an adverse event — an unintended outcome of healthcare that caused or could have caused harm.
• A “near miss” has occurred — an event that, by chance or intervention, did not cause harm but could have.
• You have been affected by an error in clinical care or in the administration of the practice.

4. The process

Where an adverse event or near miss is identified, the practice will:

1. Provide immediate clinical care to address any urgent need.
2. Acknowledge the event with you as soon as practicable, normally within 24 hours.
3. Arrange a discussion at a time and place that suits you, including the option to have a support person or advocate present.
4. Provide a factual explanation of what occurred (or what is known at that time).
5. Express an apology or regret, listen to your concerns, and answer your questions.
6. Document the event and the open-disclosure discussion in your record.
7. Identify and act on any system or practice changes needed to reduce the chance of the event recurring.
8. Provide ongoing communication as further information becomes available.

5. Your right to support

You may bring a family member, friend, advocate, interpreter, or other support person to any open-disclosure discussion. You may also seek independent advice at any stage, including legal advice.

6. Multi-venue events

Dr Waly’s practice operates across more than one engagement (medical centres, urgent care clinics, telehealth services, residential aged-care facilities). Where an adverse event occurs in a specific setting, the practice will also work with the relevant venue or service so that any required incident reporting (for example, to an aged-care facility’s clinical governance process, or to a hospital’s safety system) takes place alongside the open-disclosure conversation with you.

7. Confidentiality and protection

Participating in open disclosure does not affect your right to make a formal complaint (see the Complaints & Feedback Policy), to pursue any other remedy available to you, or to seek a second opinion. Information shared in the open-disclosure process is handled in line with the Privacy Policy.

8. Learning from events

Every adverse event or near miss is reviewed by Dr Waly to identify what can be learned and what changes should be made to practice. Where appropriate, the matter is also discussed with peers (for example, through Continuing Professional Development activity or peer review) so that the learning is broader than this practice alone.