Letter · Health & Medical Law
Open disclosure follow-up letter after an adverse event (health service)
Plain-language letter from a health service to a patient or family after an open disclosure meeting: an apology, the known facts, what is being reviewed, support offered and next steps, drafted with apology laws and insurer obligations in mind.
- Kind
- Letter. A letter or email you adapt and send.
- Where it applies
- Australia, New South Wales, Victoria
- AI use
- Yellow AI can help in set ways. A lawyer checks specific points before use.
- Law stated as at
- 17 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked on 17 October 2026 against the 5 authorities it cites, for Australia, New South Wales and Victoria.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Use after an open disclosure conversation following an adverse event, when the health service writes to confirm what was discussed. Settle it with the clinical team, risk manager and insurer. In Victoria, check whether the statutory duty of candour requires a specific process and timing.
How AI may be used
AI may help draft an empathetic, plain-language letter from facts the clinical team has confirmed, but wording that could be read as an admission of liability must be checked against the apology provisions and the insurer's requirements.
AI may
- Draft plain-language wording from the confirmed facts and the meeting notes.
- Check readability and suggest simpler words for medical terms.
- Flag statements that go beyond the confirmed facts or speculate on cause.
AI must not
- Must not state causes, findings or blame that the clinical review has not confirmed.
- Must not be given the patient's records or identity in a tool not approved for health information.
- Must not produce the final letter without review by the clinician who led the disclosure.
The lawyer checks
- Every fact is confirmed by the treating team and records.
- The apology wording is within the protection of the relevant state's apology law, and the insurer has been consulted.
- Any statutory duty of candour steps (Victoria) are met.
- Contact person, support and complaint options are correct.
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
Official form
Open the official form. Always use the current version from the issuer.
Read the full text
The full text is for signed-in accounts. It is free. When you sign in you can:
- read the whole precedent, with its drafting notes beside it;
- copy it, or download it as a Word file or Markdown;
- add it to your firm’s knowledge base, so colleagues can find it;
- let the AI tools you connect read it from that knowledge base.
The summary, the law it rests on and the AI-use guidance above stay public. Privacy.
More in Health & Medical Law
- Practitioner's response to an Ahpra notification or proposed immediate action
- Patient information and consent form for AI scribes and AI-assisted care
- Request for access to health records (patient or authorised representative), with state and NZ variants
- Memo: is this AI tool regulated software as a medical device?
- Memo assessing a mandatory notification obligation under the National Law
All precedents for Health & Medical Law · Tasks and AI use in this area