Clause 11 - Patients' Forums: Entry and Inspection of Premises
Health and Social Care Bill
6:30 pm
Mr David Madel (South West Bedfordshire, Conservative)
With this we may discuss the following amendments:
No. 83 in page 9, line 6, leave out `may' and insert `shall'.
No. 84 in page 9, line 13, after `inspect', insert `by arrangement and unannounced'.
No. 251, in page 9, line 15, after `The', insert
`Secretary of State shall make regulations in relation to the powers granted under subsection (1) above, and the'.
No. 238, in page 9, line 16, leave out `cases and' and insert `exceptional cases or exceptional'.
No. 239, in page 9, line 16, after `is', insert `not'.
No. 252 in page 9, line 17, at end add—
`(3) The Secretary of State shall make regulations providing for—
(a) publication of a report of any inspection carried out under this section;
(b) submission of any such report to the body controlling the premises inspected; and
(c) publication of a response from the body controlling the premises inspected.'.
Clause stand part.
No. 86, in clause 12, page 9, line 22, at end insert—
`(1A) Every Patients' Forum shall also—
(a) prepare reports on matters arising from premises visited within 60 days and send the same to the relevant Trust, overview and scrutiny committee, ILAF, and Health Authority, which bodies shall be required to respond; and
(b) have the right to refer any matters to the Secretary of State for action in the event that it is dissatisfied with the response from the above bodies'.
Mr. Hammond: Amendments Nos. 250 and 251 would change slightly the architecture of this clause. Instead of ``allowing'' the Secretary of State to make regulations'', it would state that the Secretary ``may'' make regulations. The amendments would insert in the Bill the requirement to allow authorised members of a patients forum the right to enter the premises of certain health bodies—thus enshrining that right in primary legislation—and would require the Secretary of State to make the necessary regulations to govern the way in which that arrangement is to work.
We think that the right of patients forums to enter the premises of designated NHS bodies is so absolutely fundamental to the performance of their function that it must be written into the Bill, and not left as something the Secretary of State may do by regulations. We fully accept that there will have to be arrangements governing the exercise of those powers, which will have to be preserved in regulation-making powers by the Secretary of State.
Every member of the Committee will be familiar with the Casualty Watch bulletins produced by community health councils. One of the high profile and very important functions of community health councils is to monitor what is actually going on in hospitals. A picture speaks a thousand words, and a snapshot that Casualty Watch can provide over a 24-hour period often gives us a clearer view of what is really going on in an NHS organisation than all the statistics published--or not published--by the Department of Health. I will judge the Government's motive in making these changes to the NHS's overview and scrutiny arrangements by the output of the new bodies.
If we do not continue to see a regular flow of often very embarrassing Casualty Watch reports, which contradict assurances that Ministers give to the public and to the House, and if we do not see these new organisations blowing the whistle on scandals or irregular practices occurring around the country, then we will know that the Government, in making these changes, have not improved the scrutiny and oversight of the NHS: they have diminished it.
For that reason, we believe that the right of entry must be enshrined in the Bill. It must, of course, be properly hedged around by regulations to ensure that the exercise of those powers does not damage the clinical effectiveness of the premises being visited. We see no reason to delegate this to a regulation-making power that the Secretary of State may or may not exercise.
Amendment No. 252 enables the Secretary of State to make regulations providing for the publication of reports of inspections carried out under clause 11, the submission of those reports to the NHS body concerned and the publication of the NHS body's response to those reports. Anything less than that will not provide effective public scrutiny or enable the patients forums to perform their function effectively.