National Health Service Bill [HL]

House of Commons

Session 2005 - 06
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National Health Service Bill [HL]

National Health Service Bill [HL]
Part 12 — Public involvement and scrutiny
Chapter 1 — Patients’ Forums
145

240
Annual reports
(1)
Each Patients’ Forum must—
(a)
prepare a report in relation to its activities in each financial year, and
(b)
as soon as possible after the end of each financial year, send a copy of
its report for that year to the trust for which it is established, and to the
5
persons mentioned in subsection (2).
(2)
Those persons are—
(a)
the Secretary of State,
(b)
the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health,
(c)
each Strategic Health Authority whose area includes—
10
(i)
any part of the area of the Primary Care Trust for which the
Forum is established, or
(ii)
all or most of the hospitals, establishments and facilities of
the NHS trust or NHS foundation trust for which the Forum is
established,
15
(d)
any relevant overview and scrutiny committee within the meaning
given by section 237,
(e)
where the report includes provision which relates to any NHS
foundation trust, the regulator.
(3)
A report under this section relating to any year must include details of the
20
arrangements maintained by the Forum in that year for obtaining the views of
patients.
(4)
In this section, “financial year”, in relation to a Patients’ Forum, means—
(a)
the period beginning with the date on which the Forum is established
and ending with the next 31st March, and
25
(b)
each successive period of 12 months ending with 31st March.
241
Further provision about Patients’ Forums
(1)
The Secretary of State may by regulations make further provision in relation to
Patients’ Forums.
(2)
The regulations may in particular make provision as to—
30
(a)
the appointment of members,
(b)
any qualification or disqualification for membership,
(c)
terms of appointment,
(d)
circumstances in which a person ceases to be a member or may be
suspended,
35
(e)
the proceedings of Patients’ Forums,
(f)
the discharge of any function of a Patients’ Forum by a committee of
the Forum or by a joint committee appointed with another Forum,
(g)
the appointment, as members of a committee or joint committee, of
persons who are not members of the Forum or Forums concerned,
40
(h)
the funding of Patients’ Forums and the provision of premises, other
facilities and staff,
(i)
the payment of travelling and other allowances to members of a
Patients’ Forum or of a committee of a Forum or a joint committee of
two or more Forums (including attendance allowances or
45
compensation for loss of remunerative time),

National Health Service Bill [HL]
Part 12 — Public involvement and scrutiny
Chapter 1 — Patients’ Forums
146

(j)
the preparation by a Patients’ Forum of annual accounts, and their
inclusion in accounts of the Commission for Patient and Public
Involvement in Health,
(k)
the provision of information (including descriptions of information
which must or must not be provided) to a Patients’ Forum by a
5
Strategic Health Authority, a Primary Care Trust, an NHS trust, an
NHS foundation trust, the Commission for Patient and Public
Involvement in Health or a person providing independent advocacy
services (within the meaning given by section 248),
(l)
the provision of information by a Patients’ Forum to another person
10
(including another Forum),
(m)
the referral of matters by a Patients’ Forum to a relevant overview
and scrutiny committee (within the meaning given by section 237),
(n)
the preparation and publication of reports by Patients’ Forums
including the publication of reports under section 240,
15
(o)
matters to be included in any such report,
(p)
the furnishing and publication by Strategic Health Authorities, Primary
Care Trusts, NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts of comments on
reports or recommendations of Patients’ Forums.
(3)
The regulations must secure that the members of a Patients’ Forum include—
20
(a)
at least one person who is a member or representative of a voluntary
organisation whose purpose, or one of whose purposes, is to represent
the interests of—
(i)
persons for whom services are being provided under this Act,
or
25
(ii)
persons who provide care for such persons, but who are not
employed to do so by any body in the exercise of its functions
under any enactment, and
(b)
at least one person for whom services are being or have been
provided by the trust for which the Patients’ Forum is established.
30
(4)
The regulations must also secure that the members of a Patients’ Forum
established for a Primary Care Trust also include—
(a)
at least one member of the Patients’ Forum established for each NHS
trust or NHS foundation trust all or most of whose hospitals,
establishments and facilities are situated in the area of the Primary Care
35
Trust, and
(b)
if it appears to the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement
in Health that there is a body which represents members of the public
in the Primary Care Trust’s area in matters relating to their health, at
least one person who is a member or representative of that body (or, if
40
there is more than one such body, of any of those bodies).
(5)
The regulations may include provision applying, or corresponding to, any
provision of Part 5A of the Local Government Act 1972 (c 70) (access to
meetings and documents), with or without modifications.

National Health Service Bill [HL]
Part 12 — Public involvement and scrutiny
Chapter 2 — Public involvement and consultation
147

Chapter 2
Public involvement and consultation
242
Public involvement and consultation
(1)
This section applies to—
(a)
Strategic Health Authorities,
5
(b)
Primary Care Trusts,
(c)
NHS trusts, and
(d)
NHS foundation trusts.
(2)
Each body to which this section applies must make arrangements with a view
to securing, as respects health services for which it is responsible, that persons
10
to whom those services are being or may be provided are, directly or through
representatives, involved in and consulted on—
(a)
the planning of the provision of those services,
(b)
the development and consideration of proposals for changes in the way
those services are provided, and
15
(c)
decisions to be made by that body affecting the operation of those
services.
(3)
For the purposes of this section a body is responsible for health services—
(a)
if the body provides or will provide those services to individuals, or
(b)
if another person provides, or will provide, those services to
20
individuals—
(i)
at that body’s direction,
(ii)
on its behalf, or
(iii)
in accordance with an agreement or arrangements made by that
body with that other person,
25

and references in this section to the provision of services include
references to the provision of services jointly with another person.
(4)
Subsection (5) applies to health services for which a Strategic Health Authority
is not responsible by virtue of subsection (3), but which are or will be provided
to individuals in the area of the Strategic Health Authority, and for which—
30
(a)
a Primary Care Trust any part of whose area falls within the Strategic
Health Authority’s area, or
(b)
an NHS trust which provides services at or from a hospital or other
establishment or facility which falls within the Strategic Health
Authority’s area,
35

is responsible by virtue of subsection (3).
(5)
A Strategic Health Authority may give directions to Primary Care Trusts
falling within paragraph (a) of subsection (4), and NHS trusts falling within
paragraph (b) of that subsection, as to the arrangements which they are to
make under subsection (2) in relation to health services to which this
40
subsection applies.
243
The Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health
(1)
There continues to be a body corporate known as the Commission for Patient
and Public Involvement in Health (“the Commission”) to exercise the functions

National Health Service Bill [HL]
Part 12 — Public involvement and scrutiny
Chapter 2 — Public involvement and consultation
148

set out in subsections (2) to (5) (in addition to its function of appointing
members of Patients’ Forums).
(2)
The Commission has the following functions—
(a)
advising the Secretary of State, and such bodies as may be
prescribed, about arrangements for public involvement in, and
5
consultation on, matters relating to the health service in England,
(b)
advising the Secretary of State, and such bodies as may be
prescribed, about arrangements for the provision in England of
independent advocacy services,
(c)
representing to the Secretary of State and such bodies as may be
10
prescribed, and advising him and them on, the views, as respects the
arrangements referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b), of Patients’ Forums
and those voluntary organisations and other bodies appearing to the
Commission to represent the interests of patients of the health service
in England and their carers,
15
(d)
providing staff to Patients’ Forums established for Primary Care
Trusts, and advice and assistance to Patients’ Forums and facilitating
the co-ordination of their activities,
(e)
advising and assisting providers of independent advocacy services in
England,
20
(f)
setting quality standards relating to any aspect of—
(i)
the way Patients Forums exercise their functions, and
(ii)
the services provided by independent advocacy services in
England,

monitoring how successfully they meet those standards, and making
25
recommendations to them about how to improve their performance
against those standards,
(g)
such other functions in relation to England as may be prescribed.
(3)
It is also the function of the Commission to promote the involvement of
members of the public in England in consultations or processes leading (or
30
potentially leading) to decisions by those mentioned in subsection (4), or the
formulation of policies by them, which would or might affect (whether directly
or not) the health of those members of the public.
(4)
The decisions in question are those made by—
(a)
health service bodies,
35
(b)
other public bodies, and
(c)
others providing services to the public or a section of the public.
(5)
It is also the function of the Commission—
(a)
to review the annual reports of Patients’ Forums made under section
240, and
40
(b)
to make, to the Secretary of State or to such other persons or bodies as
the Commission considers appropriate, such reports or
recommendations as the Commission considers appropriate
concerning any matters arising from those annual reports.
(6)
If the Commission—
45
(a)
becomes aware in the course of exercising its functions of any matter
connected with the health service in England which in its opinion
gives rise to concerns about the safety or welfare of patients, and

National Health Service Bill [HL]
Part 12 — Public involvement and scrutiny
Chapter 3 — Overview and Scrutiny Committees
149

(b)
is not satisfied that the matter is being dealt with, or about the way it is
being dealt with,

the Commission must report the matter to whichever person or body it
considers most appropriate (or, if it considers it appropriate to do so, to more
than one person or body).
5
(7)
Bodies to whom the Commission might report a matter include—
(a)
the regulatory body for the profession of a person working in the
health service,
(b)
the Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection.
(8)
The Commission may make such charges as it considers appropriate for the
10
provision of advice and other services (but this is subject to any prescribed
limitation).
(9)
The Secretary of State may by regulations make further provision in relation to
the Commission.
(10)
The regulations may, in particular, make provision as to the provision of
15
information (including descriptions of information which must or must not be
provided) to the Commission by a Strategic Health Authority, a Primary Care
Trust, an NHS trust, a Special Health Authority, an NHS foundation trust, a
Patients’ Forum or a provider of independent advocacy services.
(11)
Schedule 16 makes further provision about the Commission.
20
(12)
In this section—
“carer” and “patient” have the same meaning as in section 237,
“the health service” includes services provided in pursuance of section 75
arrangements in relation to the exercise of health-related functions of a
local authority,
25
“health service bodies” means Strategic Health Authorities, Primary Care
Trusts, NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts,
“independent advocacy services” means services provided under section
248,
“section 75 arrangements” means arrangements under regulations under
30
section 75.
Chapter 3
Overview and Scrutiny Committees
244
Functions of overview and scrutiny committees
(1)
This section applies to any local authority, except that it applies to the council
35
of a district only where the district is comprised in an area for which there is no
county council.
(2)
Regulations may, in relation to an overview and scrutiny committee of an
authority to which this section applies, make provision—
(a)
as to matters relating to the health service in the authority’s area
40
which the committee may review and scrutinise,
(b)
as to matters relating to the health service in the authority’s area on
which the committee may make reports and recommendations to local
NHS bodies, the Secretary of State or the regulator,

National Health Service Bill [HL]
Part 12 — Public involvement and scrutiny
Chapter 3 — Overview and Scrutiny Committees
150

(c)
as to matters on which local NHS bodies must consult the committee
in accordance with the regulations (including provision as to
circumstances in which the Secretary of State or the regulator may
require consultation on those matters in accordance with the
regulations),
5
(d)
as to information which local NHS bodies must provide to the
committee,
(e)
as to information which may not be disclosed by a local NHS body to
the committee,
(f)
requiring any officer of a local NHS body to attend before the
10
committee to answer questions.
(3)
For the purposes of subsection (2), “local NHS body”, in relation to an
overview and scrutiny committee, means an NHS body other than a Special
Health Authority which is prescribed for those purposes in relation to the
committee.
15
(4)
“The health service” includes services provided in pursuance of arrangements
under regulations under section 75 in relation to the exercise of health-related
functions of a local authority.
245
Joint overview and scrutiny committees etc
(1)
In this section, “relevant functions”—
20
(a)
in relation to a local authority operating executive arrangements
under Part 2 of the Local Government Act 2000 (c. 22) (“the 2000 Act”),
are functions which are, or, but for regulations under this section,
would be, exercisable under section 21(2)(f) of that Act by an overview
and scrutiny committee of that authority, and
25
(b)
in relation to a local authority operating alternative arrangements
under that Part, are any corresponding functions which are, or, but for
regulations under this section, would be, exercisable by a committee of
the authority falling within paragraph (b) of section 32(1) of that Act,

and references to an overview and scrutiny committee include references to a
30
committee falling within that paragraph.
(2)
Regulations may make provision under which—
(a)
two or more local authorities may appoint a joint committee of those
authorities (a “joint overview and scrutiny committee”) and arrange for
relevant functions in relation to any (or all) of those authorities to be
35
exercisable by the committee,
(b)
a local authority may arrange for relevant functions in relation to
that authority to be exercisable by an overview and scrutiny committee
of another local authority,
(c)
a county council for any area may arrange for one or more of the
40
members of an overview and scrutiny committee of the council for a
district comprised in that area to be appointed as—
(i)
a member of an overview and scrutiny committee of the county
council or another local authority, for the purposes of relevant
functions of the committee in relation to the county council, or
45
(ii)
a member of an overview and scrutiny committee of the county
council, for the purposes of relevant functions of the committee
in relation to another local authority.

National Health Service Bill [HL]
Part 12 — Public involvement and scrutiny
Chapter 3 — Overview and Scrutiny Committees
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(3)
The regulations may in particular—
(a)
provide for arrangements to be made only in specified circumstances,
or subject to specified conditions or limitations,
(b)
in relation to joint overview and scrutiny committees, make
provision applying, or corresponding to, any provision of—
5
(i)
section 21(4) and (6) to (15) of the 2000 Act, or
(ii)
section 246 of, and Schedule 17 to, this Act, and Schedule 11 to
the National Health Service (Wales) Act 2006 (c. 00),

with or without modifications.
(4)
The regulations may require, or enable the Secretary of State to direct, a local
10
authority—
(a)
to make arrangements of any description within subsection (2), and
(b)
to comply with such requirements in connection with the arrangements
as may be specified in the regulations or as the Secretary of State may
direct.
15
(5)
In section 244(2) and (3), references to an overview and scrutiny committee
include references to a joint overview and scrutiny committee.
(6)
In subsection (2)(c), references to an overview and scrutiny committee of a
county council include references to a joint overview and scrutiny committee
of the council and another local authority.
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(7)
Section 21(4) of the 2000 Act does not apply to the discharge of functions by
virtue of arrangements under regulations under subsection (2).
(8)
Section 21(10) of the 2000 Act does not apply to persons who are members of
an overview and scrutiny committee by virtue of arrangements under
regulations under subsection (2)(c).
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(9)
“Local authority” does not include the Common Council of the City of London.
246
Overview and scrutiny committees: exempt information
(1)
This section applies in relation to any item of business at a meeting of an
overview and scrutiny committee which is an item relating to functions of the
committee under section 21(2)(f) of the Local Government Act 2000 (c 22).
30
(2)
In relation to any such item, information is exempt information for the
purposes of section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 (c 70) (exclusion
of public from meetings to prevent disclosure of exempt information) if it falls
within any of the descriptions of information specified in Schedule 17, or in
Schedule 11 to the National Health Service (Wales) Act 2006.
35
(3)
The Secretary of State may by order vary Schedule 17—
(a)
by adding any description or other provision in connection with a
relevant body or services provided by, or under arrangements made
by, a relevant body, or
(b)
by deleting or varying any description or other provision specified or
40
contained in that Schedule.
(4)
The Secretary of State may exercise the power conferred by subsection (3) by
amending any Part of Schedule 17, with or without amendment of any other
Part.