Clause 13 - Prevention and control of health care associated infections

Part of Health Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 10:15 am on 15 December 2005.

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Photo of Jane Kennedy Jane Kennedy Minister of State, Department of Health 10:15, 15 December 2005

First, Lady Winterton, may I say what a pleasure it is to serve under your chairmanship. I look   forward to a good natured debate on an important subject—one in which the public rightly take a great interest. Although leeway was given to both speakers, I shall try to respond to their comments without straying too far from the amendment, which is narrow. We will probably debate some of the issues raised this morning in greater detail when we come to clause 14, which deals with the duties and responsibilities of the Healthcare Commission.

Secondly, I congratulate the Opposition Front-Bench spokesmen—the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr. Lansley) and his two honourable and gallant Friends, the hon. Members for Westbury and for Reigate (Mr. Blunt). I have not seen it reported, but I assume that they have been confirmed in their positions. I am pleased to see them in their places, and I wish them well in their roles.

The hon. Member for Westbury raised some good points. I shall start by speaking about those with which I agree. He was right to say that patients in mental health institutions deserve precisely the same quality and standard of care as patients elsewhere in the health service—wherever that care is commissioned.

I welcome the Healthcare Commission report. Sir Liam Donaldson invited the commission to undertake that study. Today, we are debating the code, and at future sittings we will be considering the commission’s role. We want to develop that role so that we do not have to ask the commission to undertake specific studies; it will become an integral part of its work. We will give the commission powers to inspect the performance of health service organisations against the code.

It is worth knowing exactly what the Healthcare Commission said. The hon. Gentleman quoted from its report. We always quote selectively in order to prove our point, but on that point I begin to disagree with the hon. Gentleman. Simon Gillespie also said:

“We have found some excellent performance. It is a myth to say all our hospitals are dirty.”

The constant repetition of that myth is a disservice to the health service and to the public; it makes people anxious, but their anxiety is ill-founded.

The Healthcare Commission inspected a random sample of 28 independent hospitals, but the rest of the sample was not random; it inspected 10 of the best and 60 of the worst performers in the national health service. I was encouraged to hear that 45 of the 60 worst performers were found to have made substantial improvements. Hospitals will benefit from the detailed report that the commission will make after every inspection. The inspections will enable the institutions to understand where they are failing and to improve their performance, so that they deliver better, cleaner hospitals.

The hon. Gentleman rightly pointed out that some hospitals were performing very badly. However, I was puzzled by the BBC’s headline. I forget the exact words, but the spin on the story was remarkable. The commission’s report was balanced; it rightly turned the spotlight on those areas that were failing and showed where improvement was needed. That is the purpose of commission reports. They remind the   health service of its responsibilities to its patients. I know that the institutions that have been inspected will take note and will work hard to improve.