CQC: NHS Deaths Review

Derek Twigg Excerpts

Tuesday 13th December 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I am happy to do so. We will lay down in regulations in the House that the information must be published for all trusts on a quarterly basis. I draw my hon. Friend’s attention to what I said in the statement, which is that it is not legitimate to compare the numbers in different trusts, because trusts will have different levels of reporting. In fact, our better trusts may actually have higher levels of reported avoidable deaths because they are better at picking up these things.

[Derek Twigg (Halton) (Lab)]

One of the recommendations says:

“Greater clarity is needed to support agencies working together to investigate deaths and to identify improvements needed across services and commissioning.”

How is that going to happen?

[Mr Hunt]

This is a very complex issue, but it is a very important one, particularly for people with learning disabilities who are users of the services of multiple organisations. The National Quality Board will put together guidance before the end of March, so that we can roll this out across the whole NHS during next year.