Scotland’s new Patient Safety Commissioner must have the ‘necessary powers’

Scotland’s new Patient Safety Commissioner should have powers to compel drugs firms and private companies that make medical devices to give evidence, MSPs have said.

Members of Holyrood’s Health Committee backed proposals from the Scottish Government to set up the role – which will have a wider remit than the Patient Safety Commissioner in England.

But they told Scottish ministers that whoever takes on the job should be able to compel organisations to give evidence – saying as it stands there is a “lack of clarity” on this.

MSPs on the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee said the powers to be given to the new commissioner “to compel organisations to provide evidence must include private companies who provide devices or medicines”.

The committee, which has been scrutinising the Patient Safety Commissioner for Scotland Bill, added there was a “lack of clarity in the Bill as introduced as to whether these powers will apply to private companies”, saying that this “needs to be clarified”.

The role of Scottish Patient Safety Commissioner is being set up after Henrietta Hughes was appointed as the first such commissioner in England in July 2022.

That post was created after a review by Baroness Julia Cumberlege in 2020 told how some patients had been “dismissed” and “overlooked” by the medical establishment.

Baroness Cumberlege’s work had focused on three key areas – concerns over the use of pelvic mesh, the anti-epilepsy drug sodium valproate, which has been linked to physical malformations, autism and developmental delay in children when taken by their mothers during pregnancy, and the use of hormone pregnancy tests such as Primodos, which are thought to be associated with birth defects and miscarriages.

In a new report MSPs on the committee unanimously backed the legislation to set up a commissioner post for Scotland. 

MSPs stressed that the Scottish Commissioner – who will advocate for systemic improvements in the health service – should be independent from the Scottish Government.

As a result, the committee backed plans in the Bill for the person to be appointed by the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body and to thereafter be accountable to the Parliament.

The report also highlighted the importance of those with “lived experience of patient safety issues” being able to have a “meaningful role” in the recruitment.

The Scottish Government should now work to find the “best way” to make this happen, the committee recommended.

Speaking as the report was published, committee convener Clare Haughey said it had been unanimous in backing the Bill.

Ms Haughey stated: “It is vital that patients’ voices are heard and we believe this role has the potential to improve patient safety across NHS services in Scotland.

“During our scrutiny of the Bill, the committee took evidence from a range of patients and patient representatives. Many strongly supported the establishment of a Patient Safety Commissioner for Scotland and told us the difference such a role could have made in their cases.

“At the same time, in order to fully address patients’ concerns and ensure their voices are heard, it is vital that the commissioner has the necessary powers to take action when its recommendations have not been implemented.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We welcome the Health Social Care and Sport Committee’s Stage 1 report on the general principles of the Patient Safety Commissioner for Scotland Bill, and their unanimous support.

“We will carefully consider its recommendations as we move forward to the next stages in the process.”