PRSB responds to The Paterson Inquiry recommendations 2021
The government have accepted most of the recommendations of the Paterson Inquiry following the actions of former surgeon, Ian Paterson, who was sentenced to 20 years in jail after performing unsafe and sometimes unnecessary operations on hundreds of women.
The PRSB welcomes all of the Inquiry’s recommendations which include a national framework for managing patient recall procedures, a multi-disciplinary meeting where everyone has access to the patient’s results and treatment options and the introduction of a short period into consenting procedures to allow patients time to reflect on their diagnosis and options.
In particular, we are pleased to see the report firmly recommend that all clinicians write directly to patients and then copy this letter to the GP. PRSB has long advocated for this practice, and all of our standards support this and the Please Write To Me campaign by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, which gives clinicians guidance in writing to people in plain language.
Watch our Chair, Maureen Baker, and the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges Chair, Helen Stokes-Lampard, explain why the practice is important and how it can help to flag problems with a person’s care before they occur.