Part of Health and Social Care Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 1:00 pm on 31 March 2011.
Replying to a speech before one has heard it makes for an interesting debate. I will first deal with our amendment and then I will discuss amendment 653. We have already discussed the importance of confidentiality and privacy safeguards in respect of information collected by the Information Centre. In particular, we need to ensure that information published by the Information Centre does not lead to individual patients being identified. I would like to reiterate how important an issue that is; we do not take it in any way lightly.
Amendment 686 clarifies that when the information collected by the Information Centre is in a form described in the next subsection, the centre must not publish the information. For example, the amendment makes it clear that the Information Centre is prohibited from publishing information that identifies patients or service users. Amendment 698 corrects an inaccuracy in the definition of “provider” originally proposed in this clause. The original definition did not capture all those whose identities it may be in the public interest for the Information Centre to publish. Amendment 698 provides a more comprehensive definition of those whose identity might be published.
Amendment 692 removes the old definition and amendments 687 to 690 replace the previous term with the new one. Amendment 691 ensures that when the information collected by the Information Centre does not meet published standards, the Information Centre must use its discretion as to whether the public interest is sufficient to warrant publication. The reliability of information is an important consideration for professional statisticians, for the public purse and for those who need to trust the information made available.
I want to make it clear, however, that the Information Centre may not disclose information that identifies any individual patient or service user without specific further statutory authority to do so. In addition, the powers to direct or request the Information Centre to collect information provided by clauses 238 and 239 do not themselves provide such statutory authority.
Amendment 694 sets out the circumstances in which the Information Centre may pass information to one or more bodies whether or not it was obliged to publish that information. It replaces the existing provision, which is removed by amendment 697. The Information Centre may disclose information if it considers that it is in the public interest to do so, when the reason why the information was not published was to protect the identity of a body that provided care or because the information did not meet relevant published standards.
However, we do not feel that the role of the Information Centre is to collect information that cannot be published: that should be the exception rather than the rule. There may be circumstances, however, in which the Secretary of State or the NHS commissioning board would want information that identifies bodies to be published but in which the Information Centre, if it were using its discretion, would choose not to do so.
Amendment 693 makes it clear that the Information Centre does not have discretion where it has been directed to publish such information. We recognise that the Information Centre’s views may be important and should be taken into account. Indeed, clause 245(4) requires the Secretary of State or the NHS commissioning board to have regard to advice that the Information Centre may give. However, we feel that ultimately the Information Centre should not be authorised to disregard a lawful direction.
Amendments 695 and 696 provide the Information Centre with discretion as to how and when, and in what additional forms, it will publish information that it has collected. That discretion is subject to the duty of the Information Centre to have regard to making information easily accessible and to the likely needs of those who may benefit from the information.
Opposition amendment 652 seeks to prevent the Secretary of State or the NHS commissioning board from directing the Information Centre not to publish information that it collects.