SIR – Your investigation into the regulation of medical devices (October 23) is a stark reminder that the governance of these medical implants continues to fail patients.

It is the view of the British Orthopaedic Association (BOA) and the Royal College of Surgeons that we should, as a minimum, have mandatory databases for all surgical implants. This would provide on-going patient safety data, while providing the health service with evidence to make decisions about which implants to use. New surgical devices, and the techniques required to implant them, must be regulated so that they can be safely introduced into our health care system and monitored in the long term.

Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, is right to highlight the urgent need to address the current regulatory flaws so we can protect patients. The BOA has led the way in close collaboration with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the regulator, to launch a new project: Beyond Compliance.

Strongly supported by the Royal College of Surgeons, Beyond Compliance is a governance system based on clinical data. It will evaluate the safety of medical implants and enable the profession to support the industry and influence which implants are purchased. This will be a crucial step in ensuring that no patient suffers from substandard surgical implants in the future.

Martyn Porter