Barts Health NHS Trust

Debate between Earl Howe and Baroness Donaghy

Thursday 19th March 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Donaghy (Lab)]

My Lords, I want to ask a question about a trade union representative who was dismissed from the authority two years ago for raising some of these very issues. She was a member of UNISON, and I declare an interest as a former member. I wonder whether, in working closely with trade unions, a better step would be to look after the interests of all the staff and to be not afraid to listen to some of the difficulties. The authority fought that case tooth and nail. She won at an employment tribunal but did not get reinstatement. Can the Minister give us a reassurance that in future there will be a more constructive relationship with the trade unions?

[Earl Howe]

My Lords, I cannot disagree with the philosophy expounded by the noble Baroness. It is very important that not just the trade unions but members of staff generally feel involved and have a sense of ownership of the organisation for which they work. I hope it is of some reassurance to the noble Baroness that staff and health partners will be fully involved in the development and implementation of the improvement programme and that a staff representative will be a member of a new improvement board at Whipps Cross.

NHS: South London Healthcare Trust

Debate between Earl Howe and Baroness Donaghy

Tuesday 8th January 2013 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe]

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, who I know well appreciates the scale of the problem with which the administrator was grappling. This trust was losing more than £1 million a week. That is not a sustainable position in the current NHS, or even when times were rosier as regards the financial settlement. It is important for me not to say anything that will pre-empt my right honourable friend’s conclusion, but I am aware, from the press release issued today by the trust special administrator, that, as the noble Lord rightly says, the wider health economy has been taken into consideration, including the role of Guy’s and King’s College Hospital, in a number of areas, including, in particular, in emergency care and in obstetrician-led maternity care. I would commend to the noble Lord a summary of the recommendations, which is on the department’s website today. I hope he will find that helpful in giving him a sense of the breadth of the administrator’s purview.

[Baroness Donaghy]

Is the Minister aware of the extreme anxiety among the population in Lewisham about the possible future closure of the A&E department in Lewisham? The population of 250,000 is estimated to rise to 300,000 in a very few years’ time as a result of a huge increase in the birth rate. There are very deep social needs and there is no doubt whatever that there is unanimity among the professionals and the population about the importance of maintaining that hospital. Is the Minister also concerned that one report that was produced, which was supposedly a clinical report, in fact turned out to be written by the communications department? Is he satisfied that the process has been a fair one and that there has not been a prejudgment in the consultation exercise?

[Earl Howe]

My Lords, all questions of process must be for my right honourable friend to consider, including that one. I emphasise the Government’s approach to reconfiguration decisions. When the Government came into office, we took a very clear decision about four tests that needed to be applied to any sustainable reconfiguration within the NHS: the changes, whatever they were, had to command support from GP commissioners—that is to say, the clinical community; the public must be engaged in the process; the recommendations must be clinically sustainable and sound; and, as the statement mentioned, they must leave patients with a clear choice of good-quality providers. Those safeguards were not there before, but they are there now and my right honourable friend will be looking at those tests when he considers not just the matter of Lewisham but the totality of the administrator’s recommendations.

Winterbourne View

Debate between Earl Howe and Baroness Donaghy

Tuesday 30th October 2012 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe]

My noble friend is absolutely right: this is not a simple matter. That is why we believe that commissioning should not be remote from those for whom care is commissioned. There needs to be regular monitoring by commissioners of the quality of the service that has been commissioned. Equally important, commissioners need to satisfy themselves on the suitability of the placement in the first instance. Best practice and guidance are clear: people with learning disabilities, autism or behaviour that challenges should benefit from local, personalised services and should be supported to live in the community wherever possible. The creation of clinical commissioning groups and health and well-being boards will encourage that local dialogue and insight to make sure that the services available in an area are appropriate and of a capacity for those who require them.

[Baroness Donaghy]

My Lords—

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Donaghy]

Is the Minister satisfied that not a single senior manager or owner went to jail as a result of the Winterbourne View scandal? Given that, how on earth is a culture change going to be promoted in these organisations? Can he assure the House that the responsibility and any judicial changes will be considered as part of any review?

[Earl Howe]

My Lords, the noble Baroness makes an important point. We have been clear that those who lead organisations where people suffer abuse or neglect should be held accountable. We have made it clear that there is a gap which needs to be addressed. A range of options is available through regulation; for example, by barring people from running care homes or hospitals ever again or, indeed, through criminal sanctions. As I have mentioned, very soon we will publish our final recommendations on what more can be done to prevent abuse and protect those who are in vulnerable situations.