Oliver Quick, Regulating Patient Safety: The End of Professional Dominance?

At a time when we are told that we have had enough of experts, a vision of healthcare regulation that signals the potential end of professional dominance might seem fitting. However, far from partaking in the trashing of experts, Oliver Quick offers a vision of regulation which has the potential to protect patients and professionals alike. While it is uncontentious that increased patient safety should be at the heart of healthcare regulation, precisely what this term means and how it should be achieved are far more problematic issues. Well publicised medical disasters, such as those involving Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust and paediatric heart surgery at Bristol Royal Infirmary, as well political disputes including that over the junior doctors’ contract in 2016/17,1 have pushed questions about how best to improve the standard and safety of healthcare to the forefront of public and political consciousness. This book considers the implications of our developing understanding of patient safety for the doctor–patient relationship and the role different forms of regulation can play in ensuring greater safety of care for patients. Quick’s argum