Chris Whitehouse, a political consultant and expert on medical technology policy and regulation at Whitehouse Communications, an advisor to MedTech suppliers, chair of the Urology Trade Association, and governor of the Anscombe Bioethics Centre, reports on a planned new Directorate for Patient Experience.
A new Directorate for Patient Experience within NHS England, transferring to the new proposed structure within DHSC as NHS England is abolished, is to be created. The proposal comes as Government publishes the Report of the Review of patient safety across the health and care landscape led by Dr Penny Dash, current Chair of NHS England.
This shake-up of patient safety and quality monitoring was trailed by Wes Streeting in advance of the NHS 10 Year Plan in the context of him announcing the abolition of Healthwatch England, and 154 local Healthwatches, and moving the Patient Safety Commissioner into the MHRA.
Dr Dash’s recommendations focus on streamlining the patient safety landscape and improving accountability, and included the proposal to:
“Transfer the hosting arrangement of the Patient Safety Commissioner to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, and broader patient safety work to a new directorate for patient experience within NHS England, transferring to the new proposed structure within DHSC.”
The original function of the Patient Safety Commissioner – to promote the safety of and enable the user voice to feed back on adverse impacts of medicines and medical products – should, the Report argues, be hosted by MHRA, which has direct responsibility to monitor medicines and medical devices, says the Report, as this would offer improved clarity about where responsibility for the voice of patients lies when it comes to the safety of medicines and medical devices, and build on MHRA’s current work to capture adverse events more effectively, including through use of technology
It is notable that the executive team of NHS England currently lacks a director of customer experience or similar. This is in contrast with other large-scale consumer-focused organisations, which do not outsource their customer experience function.
The timeline for this change is not yet clear, either for creation of the Directorate within NHS England, or its transfer to DHSC, but developers and suppliers of MedTech should engage with the new structures to demonstrate how and where their products can demonstrate that they enhance patient dignity, outcomes and experience.
The Author used AI in preparing this article, comments upon or questions about which can be addressed to chris.whitehouse@whitehousecomms.com.
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