Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the estimated cost of recalling patients is following the patient safety alert issued by NHS Improvement on 12 February 2019 on the wrong selection of orthopaedic fracture fixation plates.

As a response to the patient safety alert, trusts are being asked to review X-rays to identify whether the wrong type of fixation plate has been used. Trusts are required to agree an appropriate clinical plan of care with the patient if the wrong type of plate is identified.

We are unable to estimate costs associated with a recall as it not known at this time how many patients have potentially been affected. Neither is it possible to anticipate the details of each of the individual clinical plans of care that might be agreed.