Helen Morgan · Liberal DemocratAnswering body: Department of Health and Social Care
Parliamentary excerpt
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many major reviews into NHS maternity services have been undertaken since 2000.
Government answer
Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care
There have been six widely recognised major reviews into National Health Service maternity services since 2000, with the caveat that there is no definition of "major review”, which are as follows:
- the Morecambe Bay Investigation led by Bill Kirkup in 2015;
- National Maternity Review ("Better Births") led by Julia Cumberlege, 2015/16;
- the independent review of maternity services at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, led by Donna Ockenden, 2017 to 2022;
- East Kent Investigation ("Reading the Signals") led by Bill Kirkup, 2020 to 2022;
- Nottingham Maternity Review led by Donna Ockenden, 2022 to present; and
- the independent National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation, led by Baroness Amos, 2025 to present.
There have also been two further reviews commissioned by the Government, which will be chaired by Donna Ockenden and underway this year:
- the independent review into maternity and neonatal care at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; and
- the independent review into maternity and neonatal services at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust.
Jeremy Hunt · ConservativeAnswering body: Department of Health and Social Care
Parliamentary excerpt
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to recommendation 44 of the Report of the Morecambe Bay Investigation, published in March 2015, what steps his Department has taken to establish a proper framework on which future investigations could be promptly established.
Government answer
Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care
The Government is committed to ensuring that all women and babies received safe, personalised, equitable, and compassionate care. We are determined to learn lessons from inquiries and investigations.
The Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch became an independent investigations body known as the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) in April 2023, through the Health and Care Act 2022. Its role is to investigate incidents occurring during the provision of health care services that have, or may have, implications for patient safety. The HSSIB will conduct investigations using a no-blame approach, that is supported by a safe space which encourages participants, including patients, families, and staff, to share information in confidence. This aims to encourage the spread of a culture of learning within the National Health Service and independent sector.
As set out in the Health and Care Act 2022, the HSSIB will also provide advice, guidance, and training to NHS bodies upon request. The HSSIB has established their own processes and principles around matters such as evidence handling and access to documentation.
NHS England has created a National Independent Patient Safety Investigation Framework, which is an internally focussed approach to support the commissioning and management of independent investigations.
Jeremy Hunt · ConservativeAnswering body: Department of Health and Social Care
Parliamentary excerpt
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the recommendations contained in the report of the Morecambe Bay Investigation, published in March 2015, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for his policies of the recommendation that NHS England should consider extending the review of requirements to sustain safe provision to other services to develop and promote a positive way of working in remote and rural environments.
Government answer
Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care
The National Maternity Review report, ‘Better Births - Improving outcomes of maternity services in England, A Five Year Forward View for maternity care’ reviewed maternity services across the country including in rural and isolated areas.
In the 2016/17 clinical commissioning group allocations, NHS England made a change to the allocation funding formulae for remoteness. In part, this funding recognises that services in remote areas, including maternity services, have unavoidably higher costs because the level of activity is too low for services to operate. Further, we know that the challenges faced by services in remote areas are broader than funding which is why we committed in the NHS Long Term Plan to develop new operating models for rural hospitals, as well as to reduce geographical and specialty imbalances in medical posts. As part of this, NHS England and NHS Improvement is working with 35 smaller acute hospitals and local systems leaders to identify and accelerate the spread of new delivery models through peer learning and in partnership with national stakeholders, including the Care Quality Commission and Royal Colleges.
Jeremy Hunt · ConservativeAnswering body: Department of Health and Social Care
Parliamentary excerpt
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Report of the Morecambe Bay Investigation by Dr Bill Kirkup, published in March 2015, what steps his Department has taken to draw up a national protocol setting out the duties of all Trusts and their staff in relation to inquests, including but not be limited to (a) the avoidance of attempts to fend off inquests, (b) a mandatory requirement not to coach staff or provide model answers, (c) the need to avoid collusi...
Government answer
Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care
NHS Improvement, in 2016, published national compulsory guidance on the duties, and the current legislation relating to coroner inquests that National Health Service trusts, foundation trusts, and individual clinicians must follow with regards to coronial processes.
Healthcare professional regulators, the Nursing and Midwifery Council and the General Medical Council’s guidance requires nurses, midwives and doctors to cooperate with all investigations, formal inquires and inquests.
Jeremy Hunt · ConservativeAnswering body: Department of Health and Social Care
Parliamentary excerpt
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Report of the Morecambe Bay Investigation by Dr Bill Kirkup, published in March 2015, what progress he has made in introducing a mechanism to independently scrutinise perinatal and maternal deaths.
Government answer
Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care
Medical examiners have been introduced on a non-statutory basis from April 2019 to scrutinise all non-coronial deaths and ensure the right deaths are referred to coroners. This includes neonatal death.
Since April 2018, the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch has been investigating all term intrapartum stillbirths (at least 37+0 completed weeks of gestation), neonatal deaths of all term babies born following labour when the baby died within the first week of life (0-6 days) of any cause and maternal deaths.
MBRRACE-UK (Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries across the United Kingdom) conduct surveillance of all late fetal losses, stillbirths, neonatal and maternal deaths and produce Confidential Enquires to provide valuable learning and inform service improvement.
Jeremy Hunt · ConservativeAnswering body: Department of Health and Social Care
Parliamentary excerpt
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Report of the Morecambe Bay Investigation by Dr Bill Kirkup, published in March 2015, what steps his Department has taken to (a) establish a proper framework, if necessary statutory, on which future investigations could be promptly established, including setting out the arrangements necessary to maintain independence and work effectively and efficiently and (b) clarify responsibilities of current and former health...
Government answer
Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care
The Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch was established in 2017 to investigate to improve patient safety and create a learning culture across the National Health Service.
The Health Service Safety Investigations Bill was introduced in the previous Parliament. This legislation will establish a fully independent arms-length patient safety investigation body, create a statutory ‘safe space’ in this body and provide the new body with powers to discharge its investigative function effectively. These include the power to ask individuals, to attend to answer questions or to provide information, documents equipment or other information as required.
The Department will bring forward these proposals when Parliamentary time allows.
Jeremy Hunt · ConservativeAnswering body: Department of Health and Social Care
Parliamentary excerpt
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Report of the Morecambe Bay Investigation by Dr Bill Kirkup, published in March 2015, what steps his Department undertook to ensure that professional regulatory bodies investigated the conduct of registrants involved in the care of patients during the time period of that investigation.
Government answer
Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care
As independent bodies, the regulators of healthcare professionals are responsible for operational matters concerning the discharge of their statutory duties. Accordingly, it would not be appropriate for Ministers to become involved with individual fitness to practise cases.
The Morecambe Bay Investigation recommended that healthcare professionals who had provided care that fell short of the expected standards should be held to account. As a result, the General Medical Council and Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) investigated the conduct of the registrants involved. These investigations have been completed.
In May 2018, at the request of both the Department and the NMC, the Professional Standards Authority published a ‘Lessons Learned Review’ into the handling of concerns relating to the handling of the Morecambe Bay fitness to practise cases.
Jeremy Hunt · ConservativeAnswering body: Department of Health and Social Care
Parliamentary excerpt
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Report of the Morecambe Bay Investigation by Dr Bill Kirkup, published in March 2015, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that the importance of putting quality first is re-emphasised and local arrangements are reviewed to identify any need for personal or organisational development, including amongst clinical leadership in commissioning organisations.
Government answer
Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care
The Department is committed to ensure that services across the health and care system are of the highest quality through ongoing system regulation and oversight.
The Care Quality Commission is the independent regulator of quality for health and adult social care in England, it uses its powers to provides assurance and encourages improvement.
The new regional architecture has quality embedded into the role and responsibility of Clinical Quality Directors and other regional leads as well as through clinical networks and Local Maternity Systems.
The National Quality Board is reviewing the national model of quality surveillance, specifically the role of Quality Surveillance Groups in monitoring and managing quality issues within local health and care systems.
Jeremy Hunt · ConservativeAnswering body: Department of Health and Social Care
Parliamentary excerpt
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Report of the Morecambe Bay Investigation by Dr Bill Kirkup, published in March 2015, what steps his Department has taken to review how it carries out impact assessments of new policies to identify the risks as well as the resources and time required.
Government answer
Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care
The Department’s Impact Assessment process seeks to identify risks and uncertainties associated with proposed policy changes, following best practice guidance for impact assessments and quality assurance set out by HM Treasury in the Green Book and Aqua Book.
Impact assessment procedures have been strengthened by introducing an internal Senior Review Committee who review and quality assure all impact assessments.
Risk and resource implications are a focus throughout the process and are explicitly set out when the Department publishes impact assessments.
Jeremy Hunt · ConservativeAnswering body: Department of Health and Social Care
Parliamentary excerpt
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Report of the Morecambe Bay Investigation by Dr Bill Kirkup, published in March 2015, what steps his Department has taken to help ensure that NHS England draws up a protocol to clarify the division of responsibilities for oversight of service quality and the implementation of measures to correct failures.
Government answer
Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care
The National Quality Board (NQB) provides coordinated leadership for quality on behalf of the Department, Public Health England, NHS England, the Care Quality Commission, NHS Improvement, NHS Digital and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.
The NQB works to promote quality nationally; support local quality improvement with providers, commissioners and those who use services; and identify new challenges and opportunities to improve quality.
Quality Surveillance Groups bring together different parts of the health and care system, to share intelligence about risks to quality and identify those risks to quality at as early a stage as possible.
Jeremy Hunt · ConservativeAnswering body: Department of Health and Social Care
Parliamentary excerpt
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Report of the Morecambe Bay Investigation by Dr Bill Kirkup, published in March 2015, what steps his Department has taken to draw up systematic guidance setting out an appropr
Government answer
Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care
NHS England and NHS Improvement have agreed to establish an advisory function for independent reviews which they sponsor, commission or oversee. This will advise on the establishment and best practice management of these types of reviews.
Jeremy Hunt · ConservativeAnswering body: Department of Health and Social Care
Parliamentary excerpt
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Report of the Morecambe Bay Investigation by Dr Bill Kirkup, published in March 2015, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that (a) all external reviews of suspected service failures be registered with the Care Quality Commission and Monitor and (b) that the Care Quality Commission develops a system to collate learning from those reviews and disseminate it to other Trusts.
Government answer
Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care
National Health Service trusts are asked to submit details of the commissioning and conclusion of relevant external reviews or investigations undertaken in the previous 12 months and describe key outcomes to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as part of the Routine Provider Information Return.
NHS England and NHS Improvement have agreed to establish an advisory function for independent reviews which they sponsor, commission or oversee. This will advise on the establishment and best practice management of these types of reviews.
The CQC does not have a system for disseminating learning to other trusts. However, Local Maternity Systems (LMSs) and Clinical Networks have a role in sharing learning from reviews and investigations. A recent review of LMSs suggests this is working well with systems for shared learning embedding.
Jeremy Hunt · ConservativeAnswering body: Department of Health and Social Care
Parliamentary excerpt
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Report of the Morecambe Bay Investigation by Dr Bill Kirkup, published in March 2015, what steps his Department has taken to draw up a protocol on how to manage organisational change that transfers responsibilities and accountabilities.
Government answer
Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care
Since the publication of the Morecambe Bay Investigation, the Department and the National Health Service have put in place a number of measures that are designed to ensure that organisational change is well managed.
These include arrangements to support local integration of services and strengthened regional support and oversight. The NHS has also developed a Long Term Plan to provide clear strategic direction to organisations making local changes.
NHS England and NHS Improvement are responsible for ensuring that organisational changes such as the merger of provider organisations are in the interests of patients and taxpayers and manage any risks effectively.
Jeremy Hunt · ConservativeAnswering body: Department of Health and Social Care
Parliamentary excerpt
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Report of the Morecambe Bay Investigation by Dr Bill Kirkup, published in March 2015, what steps his Department has taken to review the opportunities and challenges for smaller units in promoting services.
Government answer
Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care
The Health Education England (HEE) working group undertook a comprehensive review of education and training issues for staff working in smaller units and rural areas and published its report in 2016.
The 2019 Maternity Workforce Strategy which superseded the work of the HEE group, recommended that HEE undertake a further review to consider both the benefits and risks of rural settings.
In August 2019 HEE established a Programme Board to oversee the review, agreement and delivery of the equitable distribution of post-foundation medical training posts in England.
Jeremy Hunt · ConservativeAnswering body: Department of Health and Social Care
Parliamentary excerpt
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Report of the Morecambe Bay Investigation by Dr Bill Kirkup, published in March 2015, what steps his Department has taken to (a) draw up clear standards for incident (i) reporting and (ii) investigation in maternity services and (b) introduce mandatory (A) reporting and (B) investigation of (1) maternal deaths, (2) late and intrapartum stillbirths and (3) unexpected neonatal deaths.
Government answer
Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care
In July 2019, NHS Improvement published a new NHS Patient Safety Strategy. The strategy commits the National Health Service to developing a new Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF), which will replace the Serious Incident Framework (published in March 2015) and support clinicians to identify insights at the point of care.
In April 2018, the Healthcare Safety Investigations Branch (HSIB) began rolling out its new maternity investigation approach, which investigates cases of unexplained severe brain injury, term intrapartum stillbirths and early neonatal deaths (all cases notifiable to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists under the 'Each Baby Counts' programme) and maternal deaths in England. Since 1 April 2019 HSIB has completed its roll out of investigations to all 130 trusts with maternity services in England.
Jeremy Hunt · ConservativeAnswering body: Department of Health and Social Care
Parliamentary excerpt
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Report of the Morecambe Bay Investigation by Dr Bill Kirkup, published in March 2015, what steps his Department has taken to help ensure that the CQC and the Parliamentary and Heath Service Ombudsman draw up a memorandum of understanding specifying (a) roles, (b) relationships and (c) communication.
Government answer
Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in place with the Parliamentary and Heath Service Ombudsman (PHSO). The MoU sets out the framework for the working relationship between the two organisations.
In addition, the CQC and the PHSO are working on a more direct means of sharing final PHSO investigation reports and are drafting an outline information sharing agreement for this purpose which will be published in due course.
Jeremy Hunt · ConservativeAnswering body: Department of Health and Social Care
Parliamentary excerpt
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Report of the Morecambe Bay Investigation by Dr Bill Kirkup, published in March 2015, what steps his Department has taken to help ensure that a duty is placed on all NHS Boards to openly (a) report the findings of external investigations into (i) clinical services, (ii) governance and (ii) other aspects of the operation of the Trust and (b) promptly notify (A) the Care Quality Commission and (B) Monitor.
Government answer
Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care
Since summer 2018, as part of the Care Quality Commission’s annual Routine Provider Information Return, National Health Service trusts are asked to submit details of the commissioning and conclusion of relevant external reviews or investigations undertaken in the previous 12 months and describe key outcomes. Trusts are prompted to include actions taken resulting from coroner or ombudsman investigations and learning from external reviews of other providers.
NHS England and NHS Improvement have agreed to establish an advisory function for independent reviews which they sponsor, commission or oversee. This will advise on the establishment and best practice management of these types of reviews.
Jeremy Hunt · ConservativeAnswering body: Department of Health and Social Care
Parliamentary excerpt
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Report of the Morecambe Bay Investigation by Dr Bill Kirkup, what plans his Department has to improve the 2014 duty of candour for all NHS professionals.
Government answer
Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care
The Government introduced a statutory duty of candour on organisations in response to the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry, and this is regulated as part of the Care Quality Commission inspection regime. Providers must ensure that they have processes in place to ensure staff are supported to deliver the duty of candour and have a system in place to identify and deal with possible breaches by registered staff. There are currently no plans to make further changes to these regulations.
The General Medical Council and the Nursing and Midwifery Council produce professional duty of candour guidance that registered doctors, nurses and midwives must follow.
Tom Kark QC in his Review into the Fit and Proper Persons Test suggested that compliance with the duty of candour should be included in the core competencies of directors to sit on the board of any health providing organisation. NHS England and NHS Improvement are currently considering how best to bring forward this proposal as part of the NHS People Plan.
Jeremy Hunt · ConservativeAnswering body: Department of Health and Social Care
Parliamentary excerpt
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Report of the Morecambe Bay Investigation by Dr Bill Kirkup, published in March 2015, what steps his Department has taken to (a) establish national standards of the professional duties and expectations of (i) clinical directors, (ii) clinical leads, (ii) heads of service, (iii) medical directors and (iv) nurse directors and (b) ensure that NHS trusts provide evidence of their policies and training to the Care Qual...
Government answer
Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care
The Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management is developing the third edition of the Leadership and management standards for medical professionals to be released in 2020.
The interim People Plan published in June 2019 gave a commitment to undertake a system wide engagement on a new ‘NHS Leadership Compact’ that will establish the cultural values and leadership behaviours we expect from National Health Service leaders, together with the support and development that leaders should expect in return. NHS England and NHS Improvement are working with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to reflect the principles of the leadership compact in an updated version of the CQC’s Well-Led Framework, which will be consulted on and launched by spring 2021.
The NHS Leadership Academy’s Healthcare Leadership Model sets out the behaviours that are required of all NHS leaders in order to deliver effective, high quality care. Additionally, in November 2019, NHS England and NHS Improvement published a competency framework for Chairs and will publish further competency frameworks for executive and non-executive role on NHS boards, in line with the commitment set out in the interim People Plan.
Jeremy Hunt · ConservativeAnswering body: Department of Health and Social Care
Parliamentary excerpt
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Report of the Morecambe Bay Investigation by Dr Bill Kirkup, published in March 2015, what steps his Department has taken to (a) publish national standards setting out the responsibilities for (i) clinical quality of managers, (ii) executive directors, (iii) middle managers and (iv) non-executives and (b) ensure that NHS Trusts provide evidence to the Care Quality Commission to ensure that standards are met.
Government answer
Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care
The Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management is developing the third edition of the Leadership and management standards for medical professionals to be released in 2020.
The interim People Plan published in June 2019 gave a commitment to undertake a system wide engagement on a new ‘NHS Leadership Compact’ that will establish the cultural values and leadership behaviours we expect from National Health Service leaders, together with the support and development that leaders should expect in return. NHS England and NHS Improvement are working with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to reflect the principles of the leadership compact in an updated version of the CQC’s Well-Led Framework, which will be consulted on and launched by spring 2021.
The NHS Leadership Academy’s Healthcare Leadership Model sets out the behaviours that are required of all NHS leaders in order to deliver effective, high quality care. Additionally, in November 2019, NHS England and NHS Improvement published a competency framework for Chairs and will publish further competency frameworks for executive and non-executive role on NHS boards, in line with the commitment set out in the interim People Plan.
Jeremy Hunt · ConservativeAnswering body: Department of Health and Social Care
Parliamentary excerpt
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Report of the Morecambe Bay Investigation by Dr Bill Kirkup, published in March 2015, what steps his Department has taken to conduct a national review of the provision of maternity care and paediatrics in (a) rural areas, (b) areas that are difficult to recruit to or (c) isolated areas.
Government answer
Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care
The National Maternity Review report, ‘Better Births - Improving outcomes of maternity services in England, A Five Year Forward View for maternity care’ reviewed maternity services across the country including in rural and isolated areas. It found that in a number of rural areas, small obstetric units see a low number of births and face challenges in employing sufficient numbers of staff.
As part of the New Care Models programme, NHS England alongside the other arm’s length bodies, has established 50 vanguards to explore how new models of care can address the quality, care and efficiency challenges faced by the National Health Service; this includes services that are rural, geographically isolated or difficult to recruit to. Examples of best practice and shared learning from these Vanguard sites are continually made available to the wider NHS, through reports, publications, press and media.
Jeremy Hunt · ConservativeAnswering body: Department of Health and Social Care
Parliamentary excerpt
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Report of the Morecambe Bay Investigation by Dr Bill Kirkup, published in March 2015, what steps his Department have taken to review the NHS complaints system to (a) strengthe
Government answer
Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care
We are currently developing a national strategy which aims to drive improvements in how feedback and concerns from patients are dealt with by the National Health Service so that the NHS listens, learns and acts.
Jeremy Hunt · ConservativeAnswering body: Department of Health and Social Care
Parliamentary excerpt
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report entitled, The Report of the Morecambe Bay Investigation, published in March 2015, what steps he has taken to extend the medical examiners system to (a) stillbirths and (b) neonatal deaths to ensure that appropriate recommendations are made to coroners on the occasional need for inquests in individual cases.
Government answer
Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care
Medical examiners will scrutinise all non-coronial deaths and ensure the right deaths are referred to coroners. This includes neonatal deaths. We remain committed to establishing a statutory system in the National Health Service, that will scrutinise all deaths which do not involve a coroner, as soon as Parliamentary time allows. This will build upon the non-statutory system already being implemented.
There is currently no provision for the medical examiner to become involved in the certification for stillborn babies. This is because the functions of medical examiners, as set out in the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, are limited to scrutinising causes of death. Stillborn babies are not legally classified as having died because Common law does not see this as a death, as they were not born alive. Officials have been analysing responses to the consultation that sets out proposals for giving coroners new powers to investigate term stillbirths. The Government plans to publish a response in the spring or early summer.
Jeremy Hunt · ConservativeAnswering body: Department of Health and Social Care
Parliamentary excerpt
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Report of the Morecambe Bay Investigation by Dr Bill Kirkup, published in March 2015, what steps his Department has taken to reform the Local Supervising Authority system for midwives.
Government answer
Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care
Both the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s and Dr Bill Kirkup’s reports following Morecambe Bay were critical of the Local Supervising Authority system provided for in legislation for midwives.
The Nursing and Midwifery (Amendment) Order 2017 separated the function of midwifery supervision, which is the responsibility of the employer, from regulatory activity, which is the responsibility of the Nursing and Midwifery Council. This brought the regulation of midwives into line with the arrangements for other regulated professions and means that supervisors are no longer involved in regulatory investigations and sanctions.
Subsequently, a new non-statutory model of supervision for midwives has been developed and rolled out in each of the four countries of the United Kingdom with NHS England leading this work in England. The new model focuses on the professional and developmental aspects of the role.
Jeremy Hunt · ConservativeAnswering body: Department of Health and Social Care
Parliamentary excerpt
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Report of the Morecambe Bay Investigation by Dr Bill Kirkup, published in March 2015, what step has his department taken to introduce a clear national policy on whistleblowing that ensures a systematic and proportionate response is made by Trusts to concerns identified.
Government answer
Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care
The Government has established an independent National Guardian to help drive positive cultural change across the National Health Service so that speaking up becomes business as usual. The National Guardian oversees a network of over 500 Local Guardians covering every trust. We have also enhanced the legal protections available for whistle blowers to prohibit discrimination against job applicants.