Suspension during investigation
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 if, when a hospital investigates a healthcare professional's behaviour, including the use of an HR process, any perceived risk to patient safety should result in the suspension of that healthcare professional.
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:
- NHS Resolution published a suite of resources in April 2022 to support provider decisions relating to the exclusion of healthcare professionals (DHSC and NHS England implementation update provided to the Thirlwall Inquiry, April 2025).
Sources
How was this evidence gathered?
Response — verbatim from government
●Department of Health and Social Care
Not accepted. Government does not support blanket automatic suspension. Suspension should be decided case-by-case based on risk assessment. Automatic suspension could deter reporting and be disproportionate. Existing guidance from NHS Employers and professional regulators provides for exclusion where patient safety risk is identified. Maintaining clinical practice, where safe to do so, supports professional development. (Source: Government Response, December 2021)
Department of Health and Social Care · 16 Dec 2021
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
- 1 Apr 2025 DHSC and NHS England implementation update provided to the Thirlwall Inquiry (April 2025). This is the government's own account of progress, submitted to the inquiry. Reviewed extent of implementation: Not accepted. This recommendation was not accepted by Government. The Government set out that the underlying goal of this recommendation could be met through: • Ensuring concerns are taken seriously • Implementing robust investigation processes • Providing clear guidance on decisions to suspend or exclude a healthcare professional NHS England is developing a number of policy frameworks for raising concerns. For example, a sexual misconduct policy framework. NHS England has concluded its review of how best practice guidance has been implemented, which will be factored into its work to develop the Human Resources & Organisational Development profession in the NHS. Part of this work will include producing a number of national people policy frameworks for providers to adopt locally, which will include a resolution policy framework. In the light of this work, it will not be introducing a common management framework. In April 2022, NHS Resolution (NHSR) published a suite of resources to support decisions relating to the exclusion of professionals. Source →
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.