Patients: Death

(asked on 13th June 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Learning from Deaths Programme.


Answered by
Caroline Dinenage Portrait
Caroline Dinenage
This question was answered on 20th June 2019

Since its establishment in 2017, the national Learning from Deaths (LfD) Programme Board has overseen significant progress across several areas, benefiting from the inclusion of family representatives providing valued personal perspective and challenge.

This includes national guidance (on ‘Learning from Deaths’ and ‘working with bereaved families and carers’); greater scrutiny of the care provided to individuals with learning disabilities and mental health needs; legislation to mandate avoidable mortality reporting by trusts, as well as lessons learned and improvements made; and strengthened regulatory support and oversight of providers, including by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) through assessment of trusts learning from deaths as part of its inspection activity.

In May 2019, the CQC published its review of the first year of trusts implementing the LfD national guidance. The review highlighted that trusts are at different stages of implementation, and we remain committed to enabling trusts to develop a strong safety and learning culture when responding to deaths.

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