140. Evidence submitted by Mr John Wigley
(PPI 104)
(a) Purpose of patient and public involvement
It should be to open up the NHS to public scrutiny
and have it react to expressed public needs.
(b) What form of PPI?
Preferably quite small groups of people qualified
by a combination of ability, interest and experience, who are
representative; but not members of pressure groups.
(c) Why change after only three years?
This is something for the Minister to answer.
It seems to me that it was premature to announce that PPI Forums
were to be scrapped after existing for barely a year.
(d) How should LINks be designed, including
Remit and independence. People linked
to drugs companies and campaigning pressure groups and NHS employees
should not be members.
Membership and appointment. There
should be a formal and independent appointment procedure, to try
to ensure suitability.
Funding and support. The Bill proposes
to give funds to local authorities, but does not ring fence ita
major weakness.
Area of focus. Should be the whole
local health economy-acute, PCT and full range of social services,
plus ambulance and mental health.
Statutory powers. The PPI Forums
had several important powers (the right to advise, inspect, monitor
and to see information independent of the Freedom of Information
Act), but the LINks will not have these powers- a serious weakness.
NB It is being said that trained groups of LINks members will
be given the power to inspect, but whereas PPI Forums had the
right to inspect NHS premises plus premises of other bodies used
by the NHS to provide services, LINks will not have power to inspect
the latter, and so Surgi-centres (a growing part of the health
economy) will be excludedTHIS IS A GREAT WEAKNESS.
Relations with Health Trusts. The
LINks should have the right to send a representative to attend
each Trust Board meeting, either as a full member with voting
rights, a speaker or observer.
National Coordination. Absolutely
vital to have a structure with independent funding from the Ministry.
(e) How should LINks relate to and
avoid overlap with Local authority structures including Overview
and Scrutiny Committees
It is vital that LINks are not subordinate,
but can have independent access to the health economy and Trust
Boards, otherwise they will be stifled by local political inertia
and in-fighting, achieve nothing and volunteers will leave, so
PPI will come to an end. In my view, this is a distinct danger.
John Wigley
Deputy Chair, West Herts Hospitals NHS Trust PPI
Forum
(Comments are made as an individual)
10 January 2007
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