Paterson Inquiry

In December 2017 the government commissioned an inquiry to investigate Ian Paterson’s medical malpractice and to make recommendations to improve patient safety.

PRSB has been working with the Department of Health and Social Care to advise on how better information sharing between public and private health and care system could improve patient safety.

PRSB contributed to a roundtable in 2021 on the importance of clinicians writing directly to people as standard practice in both the NHS and private practice. We have been raising awareness with our members and stakeholders about information sharing that supports person-centred care, notably the standard for outpatient letters, our recent work on #CareAboutMe, the shared decision-making standard and care planning. 

In these video clips, Professor Helene Stokes Lampard, Chair of the Academy of Royal Medical Colleges fully supports this work. AoMRC have long advocated for clinicians to write directly to people and AoMRC’s ‘Please, write to me’ guidance underscores this.

PRSB Chair, Professor Maureen Baker explains the benefits to people when we are directly informed of our care. PRSB’s standards for care records, in particular for writing outpatient letters, emphasises the importance of writing in a person-centred and easily understandable way.