On 1 May 2018, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust announced a recall of 2,500 patients in relation to concerns regarding the clinical Practice of consultant Neurologist, Dr Michael Watt. On May 2 2018, the Permanent Secretary directed the RQIA to commission an expert review of the records of all patients or former patients of Dr Watt who had died over the previous ten years (2008-2018). This is known as The Expert Review of Records of Deceased Patients of Dr Watt, or ‘the Expert Review’.

Given the sensitivity and complexity of the work, RQIA subsequently agreed with the Department of Health (DoH) that a phased approach to ‘the Expert Review’ should be undertaken.

Phase 1 pertained to a period of significant planning and preparation, including the development of a Legal Framework, operational protocols and appropriate arrangements to enable progression to the next phase.

In Phase 2, the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) was commissioned to undertake an expert review of 44 cases using Structured Judgement Review methodology to examine the records and, where available, take into consideration the testimony of families.

You can read RQIA Report on the Expert Review of Records of Deceased Patients (Neurology), published in November 2022, by clicking on the following link: https://www.rqia.org.uk/download/10/deceased-patients-review/3245/report-on-the-expert-review-of-records-of-deceased-patients-neurology-published-november-2022.pdf