News archive
-
AvMA announces its next Chief Executive
August 23, 2022AvMA is pleased to announce the appointment of a new Chief Executive who will replace Peter Walsh, AvMA’s Chief Executive since 2003, who retires at the end of 2022.
Paul Whiteing joins AvMA on 5th December from the Financial Ombudsman Service where he has been a Lead Ombudsman and Director of casework since 2014. In this role he leads a number of teams responsible for resolving disputes between financial businesses and customers. Prior to that he has held a number of senior positions in both the not-for-profit and public sectors. Paul said of his appointment:
“I am delighted to be joining AvMA and continuing to build on the great and vital work of Peter and his team have delivered over many years to support people affected by avoidable harm in healthcare. I am passionate about this, and other forms of injustice, and look forward to building on AvMA’s excellent work.”
Peter Walsh remains the Chief Executive of AvMA until the end of 2022 and will have a handover period with Paul Whiteing in December before Paul takes on full responsibilities as AvMA’s Chief Executive on 1st January 2023.
-
AvMA reaction to appointment of England’s first Patient Safety Commissioner
July 14, 2022AvMA reaction to appointment of England’s first Patient Safety Commissioner:
Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA – the charity for patient safety and Justice) welcomes the appointment of England’s first Patient Safety Commissioner announced by the Department of Health and Social Care today. AvMA gave evidence to the Cumberlege Inquiry which gave rise to the proposal of a Patient Safety Commissioner. However this appointment is only seen as a small step in the right direction.
AvMA chief executive, Peter Walsh said:
“We welcome the appointment of the first Patient Safety Commissioner in England. However, we are conscious that this commissioner’s role is limited to the area of medicines and devices, which is an important but relatively small part of patient safety work. The Government has missed an opportunity to appoint a Patient Safety Commissioner with a much wider role in promoting good patient safety culture and patient and family empowerment across healthcare. It remains a scandal that the Government refuses to fund specialist advice for people who the NHS has harmed through lapses in patient safety, and even has plans to reduce their access to justice. We look forward to working with Dr Henrietta Hughes with a view to addressing these and other pressing improvements in patient safety and responding to harmed patients and their families”
-
GMC consultation on the future of good medical practice
May 18, 2022The General Medical Council (GMC) is consulting on an updated version of Good medical practice – the standards of professional behaviour and patient care expected from all doctors in the UK. Good medical practice is at the heart of patient care across the UK. It emphasises a patient’s right to be treated with dignity, respect […]
-
Peter Walsh, Chief Executive of AvMA, to retire at end of 2022
May 16, 2022Peter Walsh will be retiring in December 2022 after 20 years as the Chief Executive of Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA). He will stay in post until the new chief executive is successfully appointed and takes up their role, and will be available to handover to his successor. Peter advised AvMA of his plans for […]
-
Charities and patients urge Sajid Javid to think again re controversial plans to clamp down on clinical negligence claims
May 3, 2022Nine charities/patients organisations, including AvMA, the Patients Association, Mencap and Mind have written to Sajid Javid, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care urging him to think again about plans to impose fixed costs on lower value clinical negligence claims. They see the plans as a threat to both access to justice and […]