Surgeon’s new role aims to boost private practice safety
A private plastic surgeon newly appointed to the Private Healthcare Information Network’s (PHIN’s) board says he looks forward to help making independent practice safer for patients.
Mr Nigel Mercer
Mr Nigel Mercer has worked alongside the organisation in previous roles to bring safety, regulation and transparency in private practice up the agenda of surgical associations and colleges.
The Bristol surgeon is a former president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons, and Federation of Surgical Specialty Associations.
Two more new board members have been appointed for their experience and expertise as consumer and patient advocates.
Kay Boycott was formerly chief executive of Asthma UK and the British Lung Foundation, and Nina Hingorani-Crain has served on numerous national boards.
PHIN chairman Dr Andrew Vallance-Owen described Mr Mercer as a ‘champion of better standards in healthcare’.
He said: ‘Over the past five years, PHIN’s focus has been on working with the private healthcare sector to build transparency, improve national data standards and produce high-quality information.
‘Over the next five year,s we will focus much more on publishing information from the data we hold and getting this in front of consumers and patients where it can be used to help make informed choices.’
Ms Hingorani-Crain said she hoped to draw on her experience of how developing information and transparency to meet consumers’ needs, support informed choice and drive improvements, could also deliver tangible market value and growth.