Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress he has made on implementing the recommendations of the First Do No Harm report; and if he will publish an updated timetable for delivery of those recommendations.

Seven of the nine recommendations made in the First Do No Harm report have been previously accepted in full, in part, or in principle. Four of these have been successfully implemented, including appointing Professor Henrietta Hughes as the first ever Patient Safety Commissioner in England in respect of medicines and medical devices, and establishing nine specialist mesh centres, which are in operation across England.

Whilst the Government has no plans to publish a timetable, progress is ongoing in respect of the remaining recommendations. For example, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has undergone an ambitious organisation-wide transformation to ensure it becomes a progressive and responsive patient-focussed regulator of medical products, for recommendation six, the Medical Devices and Outcomes Registry is now live and healthcare providers are required to contribute data, for recommendation seven, and regarding mandatory reporting of payments for the pharmaceutical and medical device industries, the Government intends to publish its response to a public consultation on this topic later this month, for recommendation eight.

Work is also ongoing across the Government to consider the recommendations in the Hughes Report, which looked into, and provided advice on, redress for those affected by sodium valproate and pelvic mesh.