The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Earl Howe)
My Lords, before the House goes into Committee on the Health and Social Care Bill, I should like to take the opportunity to update noble Lords on the latest position with regard to the Department of Health risk registers. The House will recall that my department received a specific request under the Freedom of Information Act to release the transition risk register, which covers risks relating to the development and implementation of our health reforms. There was also a separate request to release the strategic risk register, which covers the most important risks the department faces.
We have taken the view that the information in both registers should be treated as exempt from disclosure under Section 35 of the Act on the grounds that the information contained in the risk registers is integral to government policy-making. Risk registers of this sort are a tool by which information about potential risks—both actual and theoretical—can be recorded in worst-case terms to enable them to be mitigated and managed. The Information Commissioner accepts that the information falls within this category of exemption. Following our decision not to release the registers, the two individuals who made the FOI requests lodged appeals with the Information Commissioner.
In early November, the Information Commissioner published his decision notices in both cases, deciding that the public interest lay, on balance, in full disclosure of both registers. Since then, as is allowed for under the rules, we have been considering whether we should appeal the Information Commissioner’s decisions. As I explained to the House previously, this was not a decision that the Department of Health could make on its own, as the issues which bear upon the decision have significant implications for every government department.
While the principle of openness is one to which we have adhered to the maximum extent through evidence given to the Health Select Committee in another place and the publication of impact assessments, it has been our firm view, and that of other departments, that for risk registers of this type to fulfil their function, civil servants must be free to think the unthinkable and record potential risks and mitigations fully, frankly and with absolute candour, confident in the knowledge that this information will not be publicly disclosed.
The logic of the Information Commissioner’s decision to order the release of information of this nature would entirely undermine the concept of safe space for these sorts of circumstances. The matter has accordingly been the subject of much careful consultation across Government, and a very clear and firm view has emerged that the publication of information in risk registers of this type would be likely, in the future, to undermine the very purpose for which a risk register of this sort is produced, and thus directly threaten the successful implementation of government policy. I can, therefore, tell the House that my department has decided to appeal both decisions by the Information Commissioner.
I would, however, like to respond to the request made on 16 November by the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, by sharing with the House as much further information as I can about what my department’s transition risk register contains. On that occasion I undertook to examine whether there were any risks covered in the Department of Health transition risk register that are not already in the public domain and on which information could be provided without further ado.
While I cannot share the detailed breakdown of the information recorded in the risk register, or the wording, I am happy to set out for the record the broad issues covered by the transition risk register. They are as follows: how best to manage the parliamentary passage of the Bill and the potential impact of Royal Assent being delayed on the transition in the NHS; how to co-ordinate planning so that changes happen in a co-ordinated fashion while maintaining financial control; how to ensure that the NHS takes appropriate steps during organisational change to maintain and improve quality; how to ensure that lines of accountability are clear in the new system and that different bodies work together effectively, including the risk of replicating what we already have; how to minimise disruption for staff and maintain morale during transition; how best to ensure financial control during transition, to minimise the costs of moving to a new system, and to ensure that the new system delivers future efficiencies; how to ensure that future commissioning plans are robust, and to maximise the capability of the future NHS Commissioning Board; how stakeholders should be engaged in developing and implementing the reforms; and finally, how to properly resource the teams responsible for implementing the changes. I hope that this information will prove useful to noble Lords as the Bill continues its passage in Committee.
Baroness Thornton
I thank the Minister for that statement, of which I did not have more than two minutes’ notice. It is very disappointing indeed. Basically, the noble Earl is saying that the Government are choosing what they do and do not disclose to the Committee on this matter. It is an issue of trust—whether or not we can trust that we will know what we need to know to make judgments about whether this Bill will work.
I thank the noble Earl for the issues that he has decided that the Government can let us know about, but of course I am therefore concerned about what the issues are that the Government have decided that we should not know about. What are the risks that we cannot know about? That is a matter of grave concern to the Committee.
I shall be looking in detail at the Minister’s statement to the House and I reserve the right to return to this matter if I feel that we need to. For example, during the last two days in Committee I put two direct questions to the Minister about whether certain matters—one concerning children—were on the risk register and what the register said about them. I have not received answers to either of those questions. I shall continue to put my questions in that context and I suggest that other noble Lords do the same.
I am very grateful for the Statement as far as it goes but I do not think that this is an end to the matter. I can see why the Government might think that there is a cross-government issue here. However, no other department is in the position in which we find ourselves here—that of discussing a Bill that is going through the House right now. We need full information on this matter in order to be able to make proper decisions but I believe that we still do not have that. Therefore, I thank the noble Earl so far as this goes but I reserve the right to return to the issue in due course.
Lord Campbell-Savours
Perhaps I may ask the Minister a question. He gave us a list of all the areas which he thought it was not possible for Parliament to scrutinise in some detail. Did the Information Commissioner have access to all the document headings to which the Minister has referred, and did he have the opportunity to read all the documentation under those headings? If the Information Commissioner did have access to information on, for example, the handling of the legislation as it goes through Parliament, why did he, throughout the whole report, repeatedly say that these matters should be placed in the public domain? Again, is it not clear that the Government are trying to hide something from Parliament? The Minister’s first reference was to the handling of the legislation by Parliament. Why should not Parliament see what considerations took place within the department concerning how legislation should be handled as it goes through this House?
Earl Howe
My Lords, my clear understanding is that the Information Commissioner had full access to the risk register so that he would be able to see for himself what it contained. I do not believe that anything material was withheld from him. The whole purpose of risk registers of this type is to record all risks, even the unthinkable and the highly unlikely actual risks, as well as potential risks—in other words, risks that may not arise in the future but which could be mitigated with action today. Such risk registers record mitigating actions so that the risks identified do not become a reality. In our clear view, exposing that kind of information could cause needless concern, set hares running and seriously undermine confidence in the programme of work. No Government of any persuasion have routinely made risk registers of this type public for the very reason that to do so would undermine open and frank discussion among policy-makers for fear that the policy would be made public before it was fully developed.
The department has published and discussed its proposals for reform at every stage of this process. It has debated them at length in both Houses. It has even released some detail about the associated risks and what it is doing to address these in impact assessments. Therefore, I firmly believe that the Committee has all the information that it needs to discuss the proposals in detail.
Lord Campbell-Savours
My Lords, I understand there is a precedent—a Department of Transport one. Therefore, there is a discretion and the Government are in a position on this occasion and not on a further one. I do not really see that that case is relevant.
Earl Howe
My Lords, I am very grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Butler, whose understanding of these matters is one that noble Lords will respect greatly. He is absolutely right—this is not an issue that solely affects the Department of Health: it affects all government departments. That is why the stance taken by the BMA to this Bill was not material in our decision. We regret that stance but it did not come into our thinking in any way.
On the question of precedent, I am aware that during the course of the last Government three separate recent requests were made to the Department of Health to release risk registers. All three requests were declined. I have the letter here that was sent when the right honourable Andy Burnham was Secretary of State, citing exactly the same kinds of reasons I have given.
I was asked how long the appeal would take. I do not know but my understanding is that the process should come to a conclusion reasonably early in the new year. I cannot be more definite than that because it is not up to us—it will be up to the tribunal to order its business as it sees fit. Will the Government accept the result? Clearly, we will have to take a view whatever the result; I cannot pre-empt the decision today. My noble friend Lady Williams asked whether we had considered releasing a redacted version—the decision before us was whether to comply with the Information Commissioner’s decision in full, or not to and appeal. We did not have the option of redaction but I am grateful to my noble friend for her suggestion, which I will take away and consider.
Earl Howe
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Butler, and my noble friend Lord Newton for prompting this debate, which brings us back to a key theme in this Bill: namely, the extent to which we can reconcile central prescription with local flexibility.
Our White Paper, Liberating the NHS, set out the case for change, and with the help of this Bill we will put patients at the heart of everything the NHS does, focus continuously on improving patient outcomes and empower and liberate clinicians to improve the quality of healthcare services. In doing so, we will build on the successful quality framework pioneered by the noble Lord, Lord Darzi, including the quality standards programme that plays such a central role in providing robust evidence for quality improvement under this Bill.
I am naturally sympathetic to the spirit behind the amendments in the name of my noble friend and the noble Lord, Lord Butler. First, I can reassure them, and indeed the noble Lord, Lord Walton, that the Bill does not impose blanket requirements to implement NICE quality standards or any other NICE guidance, or to comply with indicators in the outcomes framework—nor should it. The board will have to have regard to NICE quality standards, including in relation to those services it will be responsible for commissioning. CCGs will similarly be required to have regard to the board’s commissioning guidance, which will be based on NICE quality standards and other accredited evidence. That is a strong duty. It means that they must consider that guidance and if they do not follow it they have to have a good reason why not. I will be coming on to an explanation of the duty to have regard in a moment. The guidance will explain rather than dictate how to improve quality, efficiency and fairness.
I will just say to the noble Lord, Lord Turnberg, that when it comes to NICE technology appraisals, the Government have undertaken to ensure that the NHS continues to fund drugs that have been recommended in NICE technology appraisal guidance and to maintain the effect of the funding direction in the new arrangements for value-based pricing. So there will be no weakening of NICE’s role here, as the noble Lord suggested.
In this way, the Bill gives us a framework to improve outcomes through recognising and rewarding high-quality care based on evidence of what works best. That comes from encouraging innovation and balancing the independence that is desirable for achieving good outcomes with the responsibility to improve, which I think is the intention behind my noble friend’s amendment.
On this occasion, I am afraid I cannot agree with the noble Lord, Lord Patel, that quality standards should be mandatory for rare diseases. We strongly believe that it should be local areas that lead in setting priorities for their own patient population. Making all quality standards for rare diseases mandatory would essentially cut across that approach. We feel that a more effective way to improve quality is to provide commissioners with all the necessary support and evidence that they need to plan how best to meet the needs of their local population.
I can sympathise with the intention behind Amendments 110ZA and 137B. The Government absolutely acknowledge the important contribution that nurse specialists make to patient care, and the value that patients, their families and indeed other members of the clinical team place on having their specialist expertise and support. I am of course well aware of the value of specialist nurses to people with epilepsy and I also completely understand the close interest of the noble Baroness, Lady Royall, in prostate cancer specialist nurses.
Under our proposals, commissioners will have the freedom to commission pathways of care designed around the patient and delivered by a multiprofessional workforce that includes specialist nurses. Of course, they will have the benefit of commissioning guidance on best practice, but in the end we are committed to empowering clinicians and giving them the freedom to determine how best to meet the needs of their patients. This will include decisions about which member of the healthcare team should deliver which aspects of care. These decisions are complex and we believe that they are best made by local clinicians and commissioners working in partnership, so although I have sympathy with much that the noble Baroness, Lady Royall, said, I do not agree that the board should have the sort of role envisaged in her Amendments 110ZA and 137B. We think that they are too prescriptive.
Turning to Amendments 144 and 145, I would say to the noble Lord, Lord Patel, that safety is a key domain of quality, and I have outlined before our intention to embed a culture of patient safety in the NHS by giving the board responsibility for managing the systems for reporting and learning from patient safety incidents that are currently operated by the National Patient Safety Agency. However, I agree that it is important that information which can inform and enhance patient safety in the NHS should be made available to all those who would benefit from it, as he suggests. The NPSA currently shares information with a number of bodies with a particular role in relation to patient safety, such as the MHRA and the CQC, and this will continue to be the case. Indeed, if it did not make important information available to those who it thought could reasonably benefit from it, the board would be in breach of its duty.
In addition to NHS bodies, the information is currently also used to develop products for use by non-NHS organisations, by the devolved Administrations and by international organisations, for which the board may determine it appropriate to charge a fee. It is for these reasons that we have framed the duty to share information in broad terms, and we would not want it to be more prescriptive or restrictive than that. This is the perennial problem of trying to insert a list in a piece of legislation.
Where the board does disclose information that relates to an individual, it is essential that their confidentiality is respected whenever possible and that information is disclosed only where there are compelling reasons to do so. I can reassure my noble friend Lord Marks that disclosures would be subject to the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Human Rights Act 1998, so any disclosures of personal information would need to involve the minimum amount of information necessary to serve the purpose. To ensure that this is clear, it may be helpful to my noble friend to know that we are working with the BMA on issues to do with confidentiality and the application of the common law in relation to the board and other bodies. We intend to bring forward any necessary changes to the Bill on Report.
Lord Walton of Detchant
My Lords, I thank the noble Earl for confirming that the Government are working with the BMA. Is it not also very important, in relation to confidentiality, that they should also work with the General Medical Council which, after all, has provided very detailed advice to doctors about confidentiality issues?
Earl Howe
My Lords, the noble Lord is quite right, and my understanding is that we are doing that as well. Meanwhile, I can tell my noble friend Lord Marks that we will consider the provisions highlighted by Amendments 153ZZA and 153ZZB as part of this process.
My noble friend also raised the issue of inequalities. In earlier debates I highlighted the very significant departure made in the Bill that, for the first time ever in this country, the Secretary of State will be legally obliged to have regard to the specific need to reduce health inequalities, whatever their root cause. The board and the CCGs will also have this duty, which clearly emphasises our commitment to equity and fairness across the health service. We believe that the phrase “have regard to” completely captures the intention of the legislation; that is, that the board and the CCGs must consider the need to reduce inequalities in every decision they take. That, I hope, addresses the essence of Amendment 118. This is consistent, as I think it should be, with the public sector equality duty, which is phrased in exactly the same way. As the board already has a responsibility for all patients in the population, its general duty on inequalities also applies this widely.
Under Amendment 119, the board would have to have regard to the duty on inequalities in allocating resources to CCGs. We recognise fully the importance of ensuring that allocations give CCGs the resources to meet the distinctive needs of their local population. Again, our preference is not to place particular weight on one factor or set of factors in legislation. In fulfilling this duty, the board will also need to work in collaboration with health and well-being boards and local authorities. We have already debated the various duties on the board to participate in certain activities of health and well-being boards.
On Amendment 137A, of course it will be important to ensure that all providers contribute to the fulfilment of these duties. Some public sector duties, such as the duties under the Equality Act, already apply to anyone exercising a public function, which includes private providers who supply NHS services. The specific duties in the Bill are placed on the board and CCGs, and they remain responsible for exercising them even when they contract with another body to provide services. It is, therefore, incumbent on them to ensure that these commissioning arrangements, and the ongoing monitoring of services provided under them, support the fulfilment of their duties.
I am not sure whether the noble Baroness, Lady Royall, spoke to her Amendment 343A, but if I cover it briefly, it may be helpful to her. The amendment probes how long it will take NICE to produce the full range of quality standards. As the noble Baroness probably knows, the ambition is to create a core library of NICE quality standards that covers the majority of NHS activity, and supports the NHS delivering against the outcomes in the outcomes framework. The programme is ideally placed to deliver a steady stream of quality standards over the agreed timescales and this will lead to a comprehensive library of quality standards within, we hope, about five years. Therefore, I am afraid the timescale envisaged in her amendment is too short.
I turn now to the group of amendments introduced by my noble friend Lady Cumberlege on maternity services. I am grateful to her and, indeed, the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, for giving us the opportunity to consider this question. I hope I can provide some reassurance that the new commissioning arrangements will provide a very secure basis for quality improvement in these services. Women should always expect—and always receive—excellent maternity services that focus on the best outcomes for them and their babies, and which optimise women’s experience of care. Getting maternity care right from the start can help tackle the negative impact of health inequalities and begin to improve the health and well-being of mother and baby.
We are committed to improving outcomes for women and babies, and for women’s experience of care. Three of the improvement areas in the NHS Outcomes Framework for 2011-12 focus on improving maternity services, by reducing perinatal mortality, by reducing admissions of full-term babies to neonatal units and by improving the experience of women and families of maternity services. My noble friend spoke of variation in services and that was the theme of the very powerful speech by the noble Lord, Lord Mawson. We are committed to ensuring consistency in the quality of maternity services. From April 2012, a maternity experience indicator will be introduced as part of the NHS outcomes framework. It will allow us to chart a woman’s experience of care through antenatal care, labour, delivery and postnatal care.
To support the NHS in improving outcomes in pregnancy, labour and immediately after birth, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence is developing new quality standards based on the best available evidence on antenatal care, intrapartum care and postnatal care. It is outcomes and quality that matter, and the NHS Commissioning Board will be publishing a commissioning outcomes framework for clinical commissioning groups. The commissioning outcomes framework will rely on the national outcomes framework set for the board and NICE quality standards. On top of that, the NHS Commissioning Board could decide to include guidance on the matter in the commissioning guidance that it must publish for CCGs and to which CCGs must have regard.
Baroness Barker
My Lords, can my noble friend tell me where in the legislation it is made clear, if a CCG were to have a conflict—that is, a disagreement—with the commissioning support organisation, where and how that conflict would be resolved?
Earl Howe
My Lords, in the interests of time I suggest that I write to noble Lords on those questions, and I am happy to do so. However, I say to my noble friend Lady Cumberlege that I recognise the particular importance of the maternity quality standard. I will try to find out for her what stage NICE has reached or is likely to reach within a certain timescale, and if I can provide her with any further information I will be happy to do so.
Lord Butler of Brockwell
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for his comments in response to Amendment 109A and I thank the other noble Lords who have supported it. The noble Lord, Lord Newton, said that this is a probing amendment. As the Minister has said, there is a question of balance here: we want the Commissioning Board to be an effective promoter of standards, but on the other hand we do not want the arrangements to put an unnecessary brake on innovation. I am sure that the noble Lord will consider carefully what the Minister has said. In the mean time, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.
Baroness Wheeler
My Lords, I am pleased to support the spirit, intention and thrust of all the amendments in this very large and, I hope, uncontroversial group, which are intended to ensure that provisions in the Bill to involve the public, patients, carers and specialist professionals and patient groups in the development and decisions about services, care and treatment are reinforced and strengthened. We recognise that the duties proposed by the Government for the NHS Commissioning Board and clinical commissioning groups—to promote the involvement of each patient and to enable patients to make choices on the services provided to them and obtain advice from specialist professionals—are a significant step forward from the original provisions in the Bill. They build on the foundation work on this issue undertaken by my own Government. However, it is clear from this excellent debate that these general duties do not go far enough to mark the significant step change that we need in getting genuine shared decision-making and participation of patients, carers, and patient groups in decisions about care and treatment, and on how services are planned and developed.
We also now have the added complexity of the reorganisation itself. Senates, networks and health and well-being boards are acting as the system integrators, all alongside our newly enlarged CCGs with their giant private sector support organisations behind them, as we now know from the Government’s recently issued draft guidance on commissioning which was referred to in the previous debate by the noble Baroness, Lady Williams. This will be a highly complex raft of interactions and interconnections with no notable route to accountability. I would be grateful if the Minister could give me some insight into how he envisages the voice of patients being heard among all the clamour and shouting that will go on between these different spheres of interest.
We must try to achieve real involvement. For individuals, that means involvement in care planning and support for patients with their carers, relatives and support groups to manage their conditions and share in the choice of treatment. On collective involvement, this means that knowledgeable patients’ groups should be able to advise commissioners on how to design services, rather than to have token consultation after decisions have already been made, which is the case now in so many situations. We must make sure that we harness fully the collective experience and knowledge of patients and specialist care organisations.
We recognise that this will involve a major cultural change in the behaviours, approaches and attitudes of key professionals from across the specialisms, moving away from seeing patients as units of disease, not as people with rights to information and to participation in discussions and decisions about their care and treatment, as the Health Foundation puts it. We need to change the way that patients and clinicians, in particular, relate to each other, and change the way that the NHS relates to patients in terms of, for example, information provision and the organisation of clinics, and in the style of consultations that professionals have with patients.
In respect of the NHS Commissioning Board, we support Amendment 121, which calls for the board to have the duty to secure rather than promote the involvement of patients, carers and their representatives in decisions about the provision of health services. This is important, and Amendment 150C—which seeks to ensure that the board’s annual report includes accounting for how it has carried out its duties in involvement, choice and advice—complements and underlines the importance of this duty.
Amendments 125 and 126, tabled by my noble friends Lord Warner, Lady Thornton, and Lord Patel, turn the focus on clinical commissioning groups and call for a published guidance to CCGs to ensure that they are clear about what is required of them to meet the duty to promote the involvement of each patient. I also pay tribute to the work of National Voices on the principles of integrated care and on other patient and involvement issues relating to these matters.
We know that many commissioners, both nationally and in CCGs, are unaware of the increasing evidence that involving individual patients in their care and treatment is proven to be more clinically effective, provides better patient experience and makes much better use of healthcare resources. In other words, it is the vital underpinning for the Nicholson challenge and for commissioners’ other duties to improve quality. A far stronger signal is needed in the Bill and in statutory guidance to draw commissioners’ attention to the proven interventions that they require from their providers. I would be grateful to hear from the Minister how he intends to do this.
Clearly, many CCGs will not make the changes that we need without help and support. Amendment 125 is therefore crucial, as it calls on the NHS Commissioning Board to draw up guidance to CCGs which will enable patients, carers and their representatives to make informed decisions. This includes patients having the means to express their views on the quality of services provided, opportunities to consult with service providers, access to appropriate information about their care and treatment, opportunities to consider available treatment options and their risks and benefits, and to participate in decisions about their care and treatment and its managers. The information they receive about these areas must be simple and well presented—not league tables or comparison charts, but clear information about treatment options, how effective they are and what the consequences might be for the patient. As other amendments underline, these rights of patients must be accessible to all patients.
Amendment 126 stresses how important it is to have information on access and location and about the providers of health services and performance if informed decision-making is to become a reality for the majority of patients. We fully support Amendments 127A and 197A, which would give expert patients’ organisations equal status to professionals in providing advice to commissioners. This would help ensure a patient voice in the clinical senates and networks. It is an approach that was supported by the clinical work stream of the Future Forum but overlooked in the Government’s response. We also strongly support Amendments 175A and 175B from the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, which calls for regulations providing for the governing bodies of CCGs to include individuals who are fully aware of the different aspects of specialist provision in the areas covered by CCGs.
Amendments 140 and 142, tabled by my noble friends Lady Thornton and Lord Hunt, require the Commissioning Board to ensure that patients are involved and consulted in the development and planning of commissioning and in the consideration of how proposals for change in health services are organised and delivered. Most importantly, Amendment 205 secures the involvement of the local healthwatch in these decisions, vital if HealthWatch is to be able to fulfil its key watchdog and patients role. The importance of this role was ably underlined by my noble friend Lord Harris, so I will not expand further on it.
On patient choice, we support Amendment 127, which proposes a definition of patient choice. Research shows that patients care most about being able to exercise choice about the care and treatment they receive, but currently the NHS performs poorly in involving patients in this way. A full definition of patient choice should be included in the Bill to ensure that commissioners provide opportunities for patients to exercise choices that go beyond the choice of provider. Does the Minister accept the need for this definition in the Bill, and if not, how will he seek to achieve the cultural change in systems and attitudes that we all want to see?
All these amendments seek to ensure that the NHS Commissioning Board and CCGs understand fully their responsibility, and that they commission for involvement. These changes would give a clear signal to the system that the Government mean business in wanting meaningful patient participation and involvement, and that real change can be achieved.
Earl Howe
My Lords, this large group of amendments all relate to the different ways in which patients, the public and others will be involved in decision-making, and although I shall be suggesting that noble Lords should not press them, I am very much in listening mode on the themes that they raise. The only thing that I cannot promise to take forward is the suggestion of the noble Baroness, Lady Masham, that I should introduce an amendment on the death penalty, but, no doubt, she can persuade me.
The issues that noble Lords have covered are central to our vision of informed and empowered patients, and responsive commissioning that is clinically led. These are also issues that were considered in great depth as part of the listening exercise, in response to which significant improvements were made. Those improvements created much stronger duties than currently apply to primary care trusts, so it is important to begin by recognising how this Bill takes us forward from the current position. Nevertheless, I recognise that some confusion remains about what we mean when we talk about involvement, and what the different duties in the Bill are intended to achieve. The noble Lord, Lord Warner, has tried to frame an all-embracing definition of involvement through Amendment 125, and I find little to criticise as regards the purpose and intent of that amendment. However, I would argue that much of what the noble Lord intends through this amendment is already provided for in the Bill. Indeed, it is because there can be different elements to involvement that would be appropriate in different situations that I would be cautious about trying to wrap them up in a single definition.
It will be helpful to begin by considering the duties on the board and clinical commissioning groups to involve patients in decisions about their own healthcare. The noble Lord, Lord Harris, made some useful distinctions on this point. These new duties reflect our vision of shared decision-making, referred to by the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay—“no decision about me without me”, and an NHS where patients are involved fully in decisions about their care in partnership with clinicians. This is primarily about the relationship between the individual patient and their clinician; it does not extend to commissioning decisions. Therefore, I do not think that it would be appropriate for HealthWatch or indeed any other body to have a role in what are meant to be sometimes very personal decisions.
There is clearly a role for CCGs as commissioners, as distinct from the role of general practitioners, in supporting and encouraging this personal involvement. However, it is not completely within their control, so I do not think that it can be for them to secure, as the amendment proposes. Nor do I think that there should be any sort of hierarchy, where the board is in the lead with a weaker duty on CCGs. That would run counter to what we are trying to achieve, which is after all a more personalised service. Therefore, I am afraid that I cannot agree with Amendments 121, 123, 124A, 191 and 192. However, such a service might include giving patients greater control over their medical records, as Amendment 124 suggests. The noble Lord, Lord Patel, may know that this was a key theme of our consultation on an information revolution. Responses to that consultation showed a clear desire to enable people to be more in control of their care, supported by greater access to the information held about them in their care records. We are committed to this and our forthcoming information strategy will set out how we propose to achieve it.
These duties are of course closely linked to those relating to enabling choice. As noble Lords will be aware, patient entitlements to choice are set out in the NHS constitution. These are underpinned by directions by the Secretary of State, which will in future be the standing rules and regulations under Clause 17 which we have already discussed.
I reassure noble Lords that, as now, the role for commissioning bodies in respect of enabling choice in the future will include acting with a view to making people aware of their rights and entitlements, giving them the information that they need to make informed decisions and working with providers to ensure that these are delivered. I did, however, listen with considerable care and sympathy to the noble Lord, Lord Neill, regarding patients who need advocates to speak on their behalf. This will be further reinforced by the new duty that the board and clinical commissioning groups will be under in relation to promoting the NHS constitution among both patients and staff. The board will set the choice offer, establishing the parameters for choice and competition, based on the choice mandate that the Secretary of State will set as part of the annual mandate to the board. I remind the Committee that we recently sought views on these issues through the consultation, Liberating the NHS: Greater Choice and Control. This is an important approach because it allows the Secretary of State and the board to manage the rollout of choice in a controlled way—something that I know many noble Lords are anxious to ensure. That is why we have deliberately used broad terms in describing the types of choice that patients can exercise. Indeed, I think that defining them in more detail, as some of the amendments attempt to do, could paradoxically limit their scope. They could also be unsuitable or indeed unfeasible in particular circumstances, and that is why, although I am in sympathy with the spirit behind them, I am unable to agree with Amendments 126, 127, 193, 196, 197 or 197ZA.
Greater choice means, among other things, patients being able to choose between a greater range of providers. Amendments 125A, 125B, 195A and 195B are particularly concerned with the impact that greater choice and provider plurality might have on the viability of existing services—a matter that we discussed at our last session in relation to amendments tabled by noble Lords opposite about the interdependency of services. That is an issue that I completely understand. In securing healthcare services to meet the needs of their patients and populations, commissioners must have regard to the stability and financial viability of those services, including taking account of the interlinkages between services, where relevant, on an ongoing basis. Commissioners will need to commission high-quality integrated care that will deliver value for money for local communities and promote opportunities for patients to exercise choices in relation to their care. In taking commissioning decisions, they will have to consider what the noble Baroness, Lady Pitkeathley, reminded us of—that is, what will be in the best interests of their patients. This would always be their primary concern, and we would expect the board to ensure sufficient competency over these issues in authorising CCGs to take on their new responsibilities and in holding them to account for doing the job.
Lord Warner
I am sorry to interrupt the noble Earl’s flow but I have been extremely restrained today. Can he clarify for me the point that he has just made concerning clinical commissioning groups’ constitutions? As I understand it—he can correct me if I am wrong— they have a considerable amount of freedom on how they frame the obligations in those constitutions. Is the Minister saying that there would be some requirements on them centrally from the board to cover areas such as patient involvement and patient choice?
Earl Howe
I am. The intention is that no clinical commissioning group will be authorised in the first instance unless it can demonstrate to the board that it can fulfil the legal duties that the Bill places on it. That is key to our thinking. Indeed, as time goes on, it will be under a continuous duty to show it is abiding by those duties. In the first instance, it is very important that clinical commissioning groups demonstrate they are fit for purpose in that sense.
I also appreciate the concern to ensure that the board and CCGs benefit from as wide a range of advice as possible. The Government have been clear that everyone with a role to play in securing the best possible services for local people should be able to do so. The definition used in the duties to obtain advice is that used to define the comprehensive health service. It would encompass the areas covered by Amendment 127C. Indeed, I do not think it would be possible to cast it in broader terms. These duties will apply to every function the board or a clinical commissioning group will exercise. Again, within those broad parameters it is important to retain some discretion for the board and CCGs to determine how best to exercise this duty.
The board and CCGs will certainly have to work closely and effectively with all the providers with which they contract as Amendments 127B and 197B suggest. I would say to my noble friend Lord Clement-Jones that that most certainly would include pharmacists. I also agree as to the expertise and the unique perspective that patients and their representative bodies can bring not just to the commissioning process but also to the way the board and clinical commissioning groups approach many of their functions. The same would apply to many other groups, including academic institutions, as the noble Lords, Lord Kakkar and Lord Walton, have highlighted.
The noble Lord, Lord Kakkar, spoke powerfully in favour of academic health partnerships. Academic health science centres have been successful at developing these partnerships within their local areas but understandably have been less successful in spreading innovation across the NHS. As the noble Lord set out, the NHS chief executive’s innovation review is due to be published next month. That will set out how we can accelerate the adoption and diffusion of innovations across the NHS. It will include a mix of bottom-up, horizontal and top-down incentives and pressures that will drive adoption and diffusion of innovation and behaviour change. The role of academic health partnerships may or may not feature in this review. I hope the noble Lord will forgive me if I do not at this stage anticipate or pre-empt what the report will say by elaborating any further. However, I counsel noble Lords to play close attention to what the noble Lord said in his speech.
While these duties refer to obtaining advice from people with expertise in relation to the health service, that is not confined to clinical expertise. Indeed, in fulfilling these duties we envisage a role for clinical senates, as we have already discussed, in providing not just clinical advice but multidisciplinary advice from professionals in health, public health and social care backgrounds alongside patient and public representation and other groups as appropriate.
I am sure we all share a desire that these duties are effective. However, I am not convinced that imposing specific duties as to where the advice should come from, including through the membership of governing bodies, or how the advice should be acted on is the right way to proceed. If we become too prescriptive we risk overburdening CCGs with so many duties and obligations that they could never be sure whether they were doing enough and in reality we must trust them to build these relationships themselves and judge them on the outcomes they achieve.
The noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, asked me about the secondary-care doctor role on CCGs and whether it had to be somebody from outside the area or retired or whether it could be a local person. We are looking carefully at that question. The secondary-care doctors on CCG governing bodies will not be able to have a conflict of interest in the decision-making process of the CCGs. That is where the noble Baroness, Lady Murphy, was absolutely correct. We will use regulations to set out more detail about this and we will work with stakeholders, including pathfinders, to develop these proposals. The noble Baroness referred to the secondary-care doctor coming from either outside the CCG area or being retired. Those are two ways in which a conflict of interest could be avoided but they are only examples and do not represent an exhaustive list.
I want to finish by returning to a point raised earlier by the noble Lord, Lord Warner. We too are aware of the very good work of National Voices, as well as a range of other organisations, on how patient and public involvement could be strengthened in the Bill. While I have explained why I think these specific amendments are not necessary, I am happy to go on listening. I feel that the Bill is already strong in this area but we are always open to new ideas and I look forward to further discussions on this general topic. It is for those reasons that, while sympathetic to the intention behind the amendments, I am unable to accept them and I hope noble Lords will agree not to press them.
Lord Patel
My Lords, on behalf of all noble Lords who took part in the debate I thank the Minister for his comments. He excited us all by first saying that the only thing he would not be able to accept would be the death penalty. He finished by saying he could not accept most of what we were saying, partly because it was already in the Bill, which most of us did not think was the case. He demonstrates a commitment that patients’ voices and public involvement will be paramount and that all the commissioning boards and commissioners will be expected to demonstrate that they listen to the voices of patients and the public. We will watch and see how they are made accountable.
The Minister referred to innovation. Of course, the next group of amendments focuses on innovation, so we may come back to it and also the involvement of the academic health centres. We have had a good debate and maybe after reading Hansard some of us can decide whether we will come back to some of these issues. In the mean time, reluctantly, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.
Lord Turnberg
I wish to speak to some of the amendments that are in my name. I would also like to comment briefly on Amendments 128A and 129, dealing with innovation. We know that we are quite slow in taking up innovations in the UK. It is not simply that there is a bit of sluggishness in the system—there are hurdles in the system. I want to mention two examples of very simple innovations that would not cost any money to the health service, but which have been blocked by the systems under which we operate.
One example is a consultant colleague of mine, a gastroenterologist—my own field—who set up a clinic in which he took phone calls from GPs and patients and was able to answer many questions without actually having to see the patients. It had a rapid turnover. It was considered to be innovative but was blocked because it did not earn any money for the hospital trust which found that it was not getting the patients referred. The second example concerns a similar situation in which the same consultant saw new patients from 8 am until 9.30 am. He sent them away for tests, scans, endoscopies and so on, and saw them again at about 11 am with the results of the tests and gave them the treatment that was necessary. This, too, was considered not to be earning money for the PCT, because it was paid for items of service, and it would have got twice the money with the normal system. This is a hurdle to innovation which we should surely be able to overcome. We have discussed that with the Minister. He expressed sympathy for the idea so I hope that it can be acted upon. It is not simply that we are slow; we have hurdles.
I come to Amendments 130, 131 and a number of others in my name. I have no doubt that the Government have firm intentions to promote research and innovation. It is mentioned in several places in the Bill and I know that the noble Earl’s heart is in the right place on all this. The amendments in my name are simply there to help the Government in their own aspirations by emphasising and reiterating the need to keep research and innovation at the forefront. I simply emphasise the points made so eloquently by the noble Baroness, Lady Morgan, and the noble Lord, Lord Willis. The amendments make it clear that innovation and research are of such central importance that they should be explicit in the board’s business plans, in reporting its activities and in clarifying how it is going about achieving these aspirations. The amendments make sure that the board actively promotes research as against simply having regard to it. I hope that the Minister will find the amendments helpful in the light of the Government’s intentions.
Amendment 131 returns to the issue of research that protects the public’s health. Here I make two particular points that the Minister might consider answering in one way or another. First, how will it be possible to ensure that the local authorities taking over the directors of public health also promote research? What levers will there be with the local authorities? Secondly, I ask a question that has been posed before. How will we ensure that the Health Protection Agency, which engages in much important research, will have access to external funds? We have discussed this before, but it would be nice to know whether it is clear that the HPA will have access to grants from external funding bodies.
Earl Howe
My Lords, the NHS has a long and proud track record of innovating and delivering better care for patients. That must continue—we all agree about that. That is why new Section 13K of the 2006 Act places a duty on the board to promote innovation when exercising its functions, including innovation in the provision of services and the,
“arrangements made for their provision”.
That last phrase means the commissioning of services. As a result, although we completely sympathise with the principle behind Amendment 128A, it is not necessary. The duty is intended to support the delivery of quality and productivity improvements across the NHS to help transform healthcare for patients and the public. In response to the noble Lord, Lord Warner, I say that I expect that innovation in procurement of goods and services will be an essential part of this. The duty certainly allows for it as it stands. It is an important part of the QIPP programme at the moment, and I am sure that it will continue to be. If we were to specify one area of activity in which the duty should be exercised, as Amendment 129 suggests, we would face the perennial problem of listing those areas where the duty should be exercised to the detriment—
Baroness Thornton
I am sorry to interrupt, but it strikes me that if none of us understood that that was what those words meant—that was what led us to table the first two amendments in this group—maybe the Minister should look at those amendments, because they offer more clarity.
Earl Howe
I am always keen to accept the wise suggestions of the noble Baroness, and I will of course go away and consider the words that she has proposed.
I was just referring to the amendment proposed by the noble Lord, Lord Warner, on procurement, and saying that we would face the perennial problem of listing those areas where the duty should be exercised to the detriment of those not listed.
Lord Warner
I have an uneasy feeling that we are going to hear a lot about lists today. On lists, some things are more important than others, and I think that the argument about lists does not hold a lot of water unless the Minister can show us some other items that will be missed out that are as powerful as procurement of goods and services in further research and innovation. If there are others, I would be happy to consider the matter, but the reason why the amendment has been tabled is because it is a very powerful way in which to promote something that the Government want. Many of the other things may not be as powerful in delivering that.
Earl Howe
I recognise that and, after what I said a moment ago, we know that procurement can be an important lever in the innovation agenda. Indeed, that will be recognised in the innovation review, which is due to be published next month. Furthermore, we are planning to launch a procurement strategy by April 2012. I will not go into huge detail about it, although I have it here, but it will consist of three elements—system levers, standards for procurement and system level support. We can look to take forward some of the ideas that the noble Lord, Lord Warner, put forward in his speech.
All this goes to show that there is a substantial amount of work already under way to create the right conditions for innovation to flourish. These include dedicated regional innovation funds to support front-line innovation and innovation challenge prizes to recognise and reward ideas that tackle some of the biggest health and social care challenges facing the NHS and in future. I have named only two from a long list of current initiatives.
I will just say to the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, that the Secretary of State already has a power to awards prizes. New Section 13K of the 2006 Act, inserted by Clause 20, simply gives the board the same power. Should it choose to use the power to make payments as prizes—and it is a power rather than a duty—this is one way in which it might decide to promote innovation in the provision of health services. Recently I presented the very first group of innovation challenge prizes, and it was a very heart-warming and exciting occasion.
The noble Lord, Lord Warner, rightly made the point that the NHS was slow to take up innovation and that people were forced to go elsewhere to take their new ideas forward. Again, this is an issue that we are tackling with considerable energy in the NHS chief executive’s review of adoption and diffusion of innovation, which will be published next month. I look forward to talking more to the noble Lord about what is in that review in due course.
I say to the noble Baroness, Lady Morgan, in particular that the main way in which the board will collaborate with research funding bodies is to fund the treatment costs of patients who are taking part in research funded by government and research charity partner organisations.
The existing innovation funds were not put in primary legislation; there is no need to put a specific power in the Bill, as Amendment 129A seeks to do, to enable the board to establish an innovation fund. As with prizes, establishing innovation funds is only one way in which the board might seek to exercise its duty to promote innovation; innovation funding is being considered as part of the chief executive’s innovation review.
Amendments 130 and 131 reflect the similar and previously debated Amendments 39 and 41 on the equivalent duty on the Secretary of State in Clause 5. I agreed to undertake a closer consideration of that duty and I shall do that. I reassure noble Lords that our discussions will include the board’s duty. Work is under way to look at these duties ahead of future stages of the Bill. Indeed, I undertake to reflect carefully on the points raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Morgan of Drefelin, and to write to her with answers to her questions. I have also written to all noble Lords who spoke in that earlier debate, picking up points that I was not able to cover at the time. I explain in that letter how public health falls within the definition of the health service, which was one of the points touched on by the noble Baroness. It will therefore be covered by the existing duty on the board to promote research in proposed new Section 13L of the 2006 Act.
The noble Lord, Lord Patel, spoke about the role of the tariff in promoting innovation. He is absolutely right to do so; the new tariff could indeed play a key role in encouraging innovation. The Bill introduces a new, independent, transparent and fair pricing system where the board and Monitor would collaborate to set prices for NHS services. That would create a more stable and predictable environment, allowing providers and commissioners to invest in technology and innovative service models to improve patient care. We are actively looking at the way in which the tariff could drive that.
My noble friend Lord Willis and, indeed, the noble Baroness, Lady Morgan, asked how exactly the board will go about promoting research. As previously set out, we will make sure that the systems and processes for commissioning used by the board and clinical commissioning groups ensure that research is promoted, supported and funded by the NHS. That will include the tariff, the commissioning guidance and the processes for authorising and supporting development of clinical commissioning groups. However, noble Lords will be aware that a great deal of the practical detail of the board's role is still under development. Further detail will be published in due course and we must respect the autonomy of the board in devising for itself how exactly it will undertake this function.
I turn to Amendments 147, 149A, 150, 215 and 218. Given the wide range of statutory duties placed on the board and CCGs, the approach we have taken in the Bill is to emphasise a few key duties that the board must look at—in particular, in its business plan, annual report and its performance assessments—and that CCGs must, in particular, look at in their commissioning plan and annual report. We feel we have chosen the right duties to emphasise, not because they are the most important but because they are duties about which any annual report, business plan, commissioning plan or assessment should provide explicit evidence, specifically linked to the exercise of the board’s or CCGs’ functions.
That said, with respect to clinical commissioning groups I say to my noble friend Lord Willis that the department has published Developing Clinical Commissioning Groups: Towards Authorisation and that, to be authorised, a CCG will need to demonstrate that it has in place the systems and processes both to promote patients’ recruitment to and participation in research, and for funding the treatment costs of patients taking part in research, so this will not be overlooked. However, we are clear that an annual report, business plan, commissioning plan or annual assessment should provide an assessment of all the body's functions, including the exercise of its innovation and research duties. There is also nothing to prevent the documents going into significant detail about the exercise of a specific duty. I add that the board has the power to issue guidance to CCGs on the contents of commissioning plans and directions as to the form and content of the annual report. I hope that those remarks are helpful in answer to the questions and points from noble Lords, and that they will be sufficiently reassured by what I have said not to press their amendments.
Baroness Thornton
I thank the Minister for those remarks and all other noble Lords for theirs. This has been a very high-quality, expert debate. I do not want to delay noble Lords from their supper and, indeed, on this side, from an opportunity to defrost—we have hypothermia on this side. The Committee has again shown its great expertise, commitment and enthusiasm to innovation and research and there is great consensus across the Committee about this. This suite of amendments would have given practical action and voice, and would have strengthened this part of the Bill on innovation and research. We need to look at what the Minister has said. I am grateful for those areas where he said that he would reflect upon these issues and let us know. However, it is safe to say that because of the consensus in the Committee on these issues, we would all be keen to make sure that the issues of innovation and research are, indeed, put beyond doubt in this Bill. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.