Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 29 April (HL16570), what data they hold on compliance with the General Medical Council's guidance Decision making and consent; how many fitness to practise cases since November 2020 have involved a failure to give patients adequate time to reflect before consenting to surgical procedures; and what audits of consent practice have been undertaken in (1) the NHS, and (2) the independent sector, since the publication of the report by the Paterson Inquiry Report of the Independent Inquiry into the Issues raised by Paterson, published on 4 February 2020.

The General Medical Council (GMC) is independent of the Government, directly accountable to Parliament, and is responsible for operational matters concerning the discharge of its statutory duties. The United Kingdom’s model of healthcare professional regulation is founded on the principle of regulators operating independently from the Government.

The Department does not hold national datasets on what audits of consent practice have been undertaken in the National Health Service or in the independent sector, since the publication of the Paterson Inquiry Report published on 4 February 2020.

NHS England has integrated decision support tools into elective pathways of care. These tools support two stage shared decision making, which introduces a period of reflection for patients when deciding on treatment options and giving consent. This allows patients to take the time to fully understand the benefits and risks of treatment, talk with friends and family, and decide whether it is the most suitable option for them.

The Medical Practitioners Assurance Framework (MPAF) was developed by the Independent Healthcare Providers Network in response to reviews, including the Paterson Inquiry. The MPAF is designed to provide a basis from which all independent providers can work, giving confidence to patients and regulators, such as the Care Quality Commission, on what good looks like. The MPAF advises that policies need to provide for patients to be given specific time to reflect and make decisions.