The Paterson Inquiry Report1, published today, includes recommendations about the appropriate oversight of consultants’ private and NHS practice.
Responding to the recommendations, Healthcode’s Managing Director, Peter Connor, made the following statement:
“The best way to respect the many victims of Ian Paterson, is to ensure that no one else will have to go through their harrowing experience.
“While there were a number of contributory factors in this troubling case, the Inquiry Report is damning about the systems in place for clinical governance and it is clear this was hampered by a deficit of accurate information and barriers to information-sharing. We believe that industry leaders are starting to address these issues but it’s clear we need to act quickly if public trust is not to be eroded further.
“In our evidence to the Inquiry, Healthcode pointed out that the technology now exists to ensure hospitals have access to accurate information about their consultants. The Private Practice Register (The PPR) already holds accurate information about more than 18,000 independent practitioners and Healthcode is committed to working closely with our hospital user group to ensure it will give them the insights they need and support their clinical governance processes.”
“Along with everyone in the private sector, Healthcode will take time to consider the Report and its recommendations. However, we believe that addressing the information deficit within hospitals would show we are learning lessons and start to meet our obligations to Paterson’s victims.”
Reference
1 Report of the Independent Inquiry into the issues raised by Paterson, Tuesday 4 February 2020 https://www.patersoninquiry.org.uk/