Clause 19 - Abolition of NHS Tribunal
Health and Social Care Bill
9:45 am
Mr John Denham (Minister of State, Department of Health; Southampton, Itchen, Labour)
The hon. Gentleman will be aware that future clauses provide for the ability to make regulations on how the health authority should conduct that process. For example, the Bill makes it clear that we shall set out the criteria that health authorities must take into account when considering whether to suspend or disqualify a practitioner. That implies that a process has to be followed, and that the health authority would have to demonstrate that it had done so in order to comply with the legislation. The process will include written notification and the opportunity for a hearing. There will not be a slide from general performance management into taking practitioners off the list; there will always be a point at which the practitioner will know that the process is taking place. It is worth re-emphasising that the provision is part of a wider picture and that it should give health authorities better informal powers.
A few weeks ago, we announced the formation of the National Clinical Assessment Authority, a body to which health authorities could informally refer GPs if they had doubts about their performance or assessment. Since July 1999, we have moved to strengthen the early intervention powers available to health authorities if they were concerned about doctors' practices.
The hon. Gentleman asked other specific questions. The Bill does not abolish the NHS tribunal for Scotland; the NHS tribunal will continue to operate there. It is a matter for the Scottish Parliament. We shall be discussing later the arrangements between England, Wales and Scotland, to ensure that practitioners who are not on the list in one country are not on the list in the others.
I hope that I have answered all the points raised by the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge, if only briefly.
Question put and agreed to.
Clause 19 ordered to stand part of the Bill.