[3] When appointed he said that surgical patients were at risk of infections because beds were not “ring-fenced” for those undergoing the same types of procedures.
He thought that some consultants carrying out too few procedures to become sufficiently skilled, and in some places junior staff were given too much responsibility.
His report on hip replacement concluded that at least 35 operations a year were needed before a surgeon could produce acceptable results.
[4] He produced tables showing the data both for hospitals and for individual surgeons and this had striking effects.
Jeremy Hunt attributes this to the "unusual combination of competitiveness and altruism that is innate to most doctors".