Regulatory system patient safety priority
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 the government should ensure that the current system of regulation and the collaboration of the regulators serves patient safety as the top priority, given the ineffectiveness of the system identified in this Inquiry.
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:
- The December 2022 implementation update stated that the National Quality Board had published national guidance on System Quality Groups for integrated care systems, and that CQC had published a new Single Assessment Framework in July 2022 (Paterson Inquiry Implementation Update, DHSC, December 2022).
- No published comprehensive review of whether the regulatory collaboration system is now serving patient safety as the top priority has been identified to March 2026.
Response — verbatim from government
●Department of Health and Social Care
Accepted. Government is strengthening regulatory collaboration. CQC and GMC have improved information sharing arrangements. The Professional Standards Authority oversees healthcare regulators. Regulatory reform programme underway to ensure patient safety is paramount. Health and Care Act 2022 includes provisions to improve regulatory effectiveness. (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.