“The Paterson Inquiry report published today rightly focuses on the impact of Ian Paterson’s premeditated criminality on his patients and their families. This serves as a reminder of why improved reporting and communication that works across both NHS and private healthcare is so important.

“We must accept that there were system-wide failures which let Ian Paterson take advantage of his patients’ trust. Changes have been introduced to reduce the reporting gap between private and NHS healthcare, with PHIN publishing more information for patients about private healthcare than has been available before. However, data reporting and clinical governance too often remains fragmented.

“A single repository of whole practice consultant information, available to managers and healthcare professionals will support better clinical governance and help identify patterns of poor care at an earlier stage. It is vital that this is also available to the public in an accessible and understandable way. As such we welcome this as the first recommendation in the Inquiry report. Shortly we will be launching a consultation with NHS Digital which considers the first steps on that journey, working toward the creation of a single unified dataset for planned hospital admissions in England.

“Patients deserve the best standards of care and peace of mind that their consultants and hospitals are held accountable, regardless of whether their care is funded through the NHS or by themselves.”

Dr Andrew Vallance-Owen