Moving forward positively

Dr Steve Evans, chair of the MSG, said today: ‘The debate about the Privileges Panel report has come to an end and we would like to move forward positively, in the interest of all our patients and our caring and dedicated paediatric consultants.  

'I urge anyone who is concerned about the care that they or a family member have received to contact our customer care team directly on customercare@msg.gg or the HSC team on customercarehsc@gov.gg.

‘I can say to them hand on heart that we will investigate your complaint thoroughly using the joint investigation process with our HSC partners. There is absolutely no way in which the care you receive will suffer as a result. And there is an appeals process if you are not happy with the outcome.  

‘We have always welcomed complaints as an opportunity for us to improve our service quality and learn lessons. We’re not able to act on or learn anything from anonymous statements in the news media. 

'You can read the full complaints policy here.

‘On second opinions, it’s worth saying again that patients and their loved ones always have the right to ask for a second opinion about any aspect of their health care. As doctors we welcome second opinions, if they are from a regulated and qualified health professional and if the advice is evidence-based. We frequently seek second opinions ourselves, either from colleagues locally or from specialists in the UK. 

‘Our paediatric service, like all the services we provide, is reviewed every five years by an independent body, usually the relevant Royal College. The review looks at both our clinical standards and at our culture – the way we work together and with our patients. Our next paediatric review is due in 2024.

‘On the wider issue of safeguarding, we have been working very closely with other key stakeholders to implement the recommendations from the learning report. We need there to be full confidence in the safeguarding process because if there is not, the risk is that professionals will hold back from making safeguarding referrals and children will be put at harm as a result.’