Dear Mr Medawar

The Secretary of State for Health has asked me to reply to your letter of 15 April. I am sorry you have had to wait so long for a reply.

I agree that it is likely that some patients in the NHS will suffer iatrogenic injury and that there will be cost implications for the NHS. There is as yet no estimate of the scale.

You will be interested to learn that the North Thames Regional Office of the NHS has recently embarked on a project to investigate the extent of iatrogenic injury and to consider means of reducing it. Dr Maureen Dalziel, Regional Director of Public Health, is in the lead.

Thank you for writing.

Yours sincerely,

Robert W Anderson

Economic Adviser

	Contents page
	Correspondence with government