Schedule 5
Health Bill [Lords]
6:30 pm
Stephen O'Brien (Shadow Minister, Health; Eddisbury, Conservative)
I am most grateful to the Minister, because this is obviously an important point and I think that he recognises that it is important in terms of the way that accountability flows.
I have had a case in my constituency that caused the most monumental nightmare for everyone concerned. After an inspection, the lady who originally owned the care home in question was found to have been operating something that was very sub-standard and indeed she faced some allegations that she had provided very poor care. Of course, her permission to operate was withdrawn under the various processes that applied.
It then turned out that that sanction had been wholly and wrongly misapplied to her, because the inspectors had placed an over-reliance upon information from the owner-boss of the care home; I will not name the case, for obvious reasons. During the inspection process, the company had been sold, it had become part of a larger group and there was a conflict of personalities between these two individuals. Consequently, there was an attempt by the new owner effectively to get rid of the former owner, so that the new owner could make efficiency savings; the removal of the former owner was certainly not going to do anything to improve patient care. It was an absolutely despicable case at every step. However, the difficulty was being able to get behind the issues of ownership.
As I say, I am grateful to the Minister for his clarification. I am sorry that this is a long intervention, but I am grateful to him because, as he said, the process is about investigating the facts. However, it can often happen in these cases, after the inspection and regulatory process, that matters reach the courts. The case that I mentioned reached the courts purely because there was a restraint of trade case that took place in the courts, because of the attempt by the new owner of that care home to restrain the original owner from going into competition with them after she realised that her future plans were being blocked. That was why we had huge difficulty in getting behind the different corporate entities.
I am glad that the Minister was able to take my point seriously, but this is a real issue; we are trying to ensure that patients do not suffer.