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First patient safety commissioner appointed

Dr Henrietta Hughes OBE is the newly appointed independent patient safety commissioner for England. She will act as a champion for patients, helping to drive improvements in safety of medicines and medical devices.

Her appointment as commissioner is in response to the recommendations from Baroness Cumberlege’s review, First Do No Harm, into patient safety. The review looked at the use of Primodos, sodium valproate and pelvic mesh, and was commissioned because women did not feel listened to or their concerns acknowledged.

You can read our summary of the review here.

The DHSC explain that the creation of an independent commissioner role supports several other measures the Government has acted on to support patient safety.

They include:

Dr Hughes’ appointment marks a significant change to the patient safety ecosystem intended to elevate the voice of patients and help tie the “disjointed system together”.

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