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6b Accepted in Part

Mandatory independent complaint resolution

Paterson Inquiry · Report of the Independent Inquiry into the Issues raised by Paterson · Issued 4 February 2020 · Addressed to: Department of Health and Social Care

Source — verbatim from the inquiry

●Inquiry recommendation

We recommend that all private patients should have the right to mandatory independent resolution of their complaint.

Paterson Inquiry, Report of the Independent Inquiry into the Issues raised by Paterson · 4 Feb 2020 Source PDF →

Published evidence summary

Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:

- In December 2021, the government accepted this recommendation in principle, stating that further work was needed on an implementation mechanism and that membership of the Independent Sector Complaints Adjudication Service (ISCAS) had grown (Government Response to the Paterson Inquiry, DHSC, December 2021).
- No published legislation or statutory instrument requiring all private healthcare providers to offer mandatory independent complaint resolution has been identified to March 2026.
- No further published evidence has been identified since 2022.

Response — verbatim from government

●Department of Health and Social Care

Accepted in principle. Government supports principle but further work needed on implementation mechanism. ISCAS membership has grown significantly since the inquiry. Government is considering whether legislative change is needed to make independent adjudication mandatory for all private healthcare providers. Consultation ongoing. (Source: Government Response, December 2021)

Department of Health and Social Care · 16 Dec 2021

Evidence trail — what's actually happened since

No published activity has been recorded against this recommendation yet.

Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.

How this page is built

Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.

This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.