Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust

Sarah Wollaston Excerpts

Wednesday 9th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. First, the Francis inquiry will go on to understand why one of those hospital SMRs, from 2003, indicated the nature of a potential problem. The SMRs are not a sufficient measure of quality across the board. The National Quality Board has already undertaken some work on how we can ensure that hospital SMRs are consistent and meaningful, and beyond that how we can identify the early-warning signs and act on them. As one of the things we derive from that, I shall be working with the quality board and across the NHS to ensure that we act on warning signs, including looking at potential risks either across the system or in relation to individual trusts.

[Dr Sarah Wollaston (Totnes) (Con)]

Will the inquiry cover the sheer volume of bureaucratic paperwork that nursing staff have to complete, which seriously gets in the way of their fulfilling their clinical responsibilities?

[Mr Lansley]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. The answer is yes.