PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES - United Kingdom Parliament

1091W
Written Answers
26 MARCH 2013
Written Answers
1092W
January February March April May June July August September October November December
2005 — — — — — — — 1 1 1 2 0
2006 1 3 3 1 0 2 1 1 0 0 3 0
2007 2 1 3 2 0 3 — — — — —
Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for
Health if he will publish all reports written by
McKinsey for Monitor on the Mid Staffordshire NHS
Foundation Trust between 1 January 2009 and
19 March 2013. [149587]
Dr Poulter: We are informed by Monitor that no
reports were produced by McKinsey for Monitor on the
Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust between
1 January 2009 and 19 March 2013, with the exception
of those written by the Contingency Planning Team
which have already been published.
NHS Commissioning Board
Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for
Health pursuant to the answer of 25 January 2013,
Official Report, column 489W, on the NHS
Commissioning Board, how he intends to hold the
NHS Commissioning Board to account for fulfilling its
statutory duties to (a) promote innovation, (b) give
regard to guidance issued by the National Institute for
Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and (c) uphold
patient rights to technologies positively appraised by
NICE; and if he will make it his policy to issue an
annual report on his assessment of the Board’s
progress. [149577]
Dr Poulter: The Health and Social Care Act 2012
makes it clear that:
The NHS Commissioning Board must publish a business plan
each year, setting out how it intends to carry out its functions, as
well as to deliver the objectives and requirements set out in the
mandate to the Board;
The Board must publish a report at the end of each year saying
how it has performed;
The Secretary of State must then publish an assessment of the
Board’s performance; and
The Board must have regard to National Institute for Health
and Clinical Excellence (NICE) Quality Standards.
With regard to the first point, the mandate includes
an objective on freeing the national health service to
innovate, in order to get the best outcomes for patients.
Regulations also provide that the relevant health
body, whether the Board or clinical commissioning
groups must fund drugs and treatments that have been
positively appraised by NICE. This right is enshrined in
the NHS constitution.
Besides these legal requirements, there will be an
ongoing sponsorship relationship between the Department
and the Board, which will be outlined in a framework
agreement. In particular, the Secretary of State will
hold regular formal accountability meetings with the
Chair of the Board and the minutes of these meetings
will be published. The purpose of these meetings is to
hold the Board to account. This includes ensuring the
Board meets its duties to promote innovation, give
regard to guidance issued by NICE, and uphold patient
rights to technology positively appraised by NICE.
NHS: Disclosure of Information
Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for
Health pursuant to the answer by Sir David Nicholson
to Question 187 given in evidence to the Committee of
Public Accounts on 18 March 2013, when his
Department expects to (a) have identified former staff
of the NHS who have been subject to a gagging clause
and (b) written to such people to explain that the
gagging clause will not be enforced. [150131]
Dr Poulter: The coalition Government have been
consistently clear that nothing within a contract of
employment or compromise agreement should prevent
an individual from speaking out about issues such as
patient care and safety, or anything else that could be in
the wider public interest in accordance with the Public
Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA).
Former national health service employees who feel
they may be subject to a confidentiality “gagging”
clause are protected under the PIDA regulations.
Appropriately drafted confidentiality clauses, can be a
legitimate mechanism for protecting the interests of
both employer and employee as long as nothing in the
agreement seeks to prevent, or has the effect of preventing,
individuals from speaking out in the public interest in
accordance with PIDA.
However, any clause that is in contravention of the
PIDA regulations are void and cannot prevent someone
from speaking out about issues such as patient care and
safety, or anything else that could be in the wider public
interest in accordance with PIDA.
Former employees are encouraged to initially seek
professional support and advice on their particular case
from the Whistleblowing helpline. In parallel, the
Department is considering how it may further communicate
with employers on the issue of former employees who
may have been party to a compromise agreement that
may have included a confidentiality clause.
Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for
Health (1) who will adjudicate in cases where there is a
dispute as to whether or not it is appropriate to remove
a confidentiality clause from an NHS employee’s
severance agreement; [150227]
(2) what steps he will take to provide retrospective
protection for former NHS employees who break
confidentiality clauses in their severance payments;
[150228]
(3) whether his proposed banning of confidentiality
clauses from severance agreements in the NHS will
apply to private sector providers of NHS services;
[150229]
(4) if his proposed banning of confidentiality clauses
from severance agreements in the NHS will apply in
cases in which whistleblowing was not the central
reason for the severance agreement; [150231]