Responding to the Government’s statement on the Paterson Inquiry, David Hare, Chief Executive of the Independent Healthcare Providers Network, said:

 “We welcome the Government’s update on their response to the Bishop of Norwich’s important inquiry into the case of Ian Paterson. Anyone who read the Bishop’s report couldn’t fail to be moved by the suffering of the victims involved and the report rightly put the voices of his victims and families at its heart.

“Today’s initial response from the Government builds on this work and sets out a commitment to implementing a number of the Bishop’s recommendations including around improving information for patients, patient consent and multidisciplinary working.

“As the Government has recognised, the independent sector has already taken a number of important steps to further improve quality and safety in the sector including through strengthening the oversight of clinicians working across both independent and NHS providers – notably through the implementation of our Medical Practitioners Assurance Framework.

“This is reflected in the Care Quality Commission’s independent assessment of the sector which currently shows that 84% of all independent sector hospitals are currently rated as either good or outstanding, which compares favourably to the wider healthcare system in England.

“The independent healthcare sector is fully committed to working with all parts of the healthcare system to build on progress in recent years so that patients can have full confidence in the behaviour of those that treat them, and we look forward to the Government’s full response to the Paterson inquiry later this year.”