Clause 19 - Abolition of NHS Tribunal
Health and Social Care Bill
9:30 am
Mr John Denham (Minister of State, Department of Health; Southampton, Itchen, Labour)
At that time, I had been in my post for only about six months. Since then, we have had the opportunity to consider more closely several cases going through the pipeline in which general practitioners' performance has been found wanting, perhaps in the criminal courts or by the General Medical Council. I have had to ask myself why those cases had not been referred to the NHS tribunal or why it had apparently failed to act. My conclusion is that a significant number of health authorities have lost confidence in the arrangement and take the view that the tribunal's procedures are unable to deal quickly enough with practitioners who pose a danger to patients. That has led to a situation in which health authorities are reluctant to instigate proceedings, so the tribunal's case load is light, averaging as few as eight cases in recent years.