Parliamentary activity

Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care

Please refer to the Oral Statement I have made today on this subject.

Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care

It is a priority for the Government to ensure that all women and babies receive the high-quality care they deserve, regardless of their background, location or ethnicity.

The Department has funded the PRiSMM programme through the National Institute for Health and Care Research. It will report England-wide data on severe maternal morbidity and evaluate the Maternal Care bundle, including an intervention to improve the identification and referral of women at risk of maternal mental health conditions. Data will be available by National Health Service trust, maternal ethnicity and measures including social deprivation, with initial findings due by the end of September 2026.

The first Maternity and Neonatal Equalities dashboard, published in January 2026, includes metrics by ethnicity and deprivation; further metrics, including maternal mental health, are being considered. The dashboard is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/dashboards/maternity-and-neonatal-equalities-dashboard

Baroness Amos’ investigation highlighted the need for better data collection and analysis to address inequities in access, experience, safety and outcomes. The forthcoming National Maternity and Neonatal Action Plan will consider these recommendations alongside those from Donna Ockenden’s review and the forthcoming Thirlwall Inquiry, including further use of data to tackle inequalities across the maternity and neonatal pathway.

Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care

The total cost of the Thirlwall Inquiry from its commencement in September 2023 to the end of March 2026 is £18,718,000.00. This includes March 2026 forecasted amounts.

Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care

Ensuring strong and accountable NHS leadership will be critical to delivering our plan for change and building an NHS fit for the future.

We know the important role that high quality leadership plays in fostering a compassionate and transparent culture within the NHS and we want a healthcare system where staff feel confident to speak up, with a positive and open workplace culture.

The vast majority of NHS managers do an excellent job. They are also responsible for hugely significant decisions that affect patient care, and the Government believes that they should be held to the same high standards of accountability as the healthcare professionals who work in the NHS.

Too often, tragic cases and high-profile reviews have shown repeated instances where leaders have failed to act appropriately and have not been held to account for their actions. The government is committed to ensuring NHS leadership is transparent and accountable. Today, the Department of Health and Social Care has published its response to the 12-week consultation on options for the regulation of NHS managers. This important development forms part of a programme of work to meet the government’s manifesto commitment to introduce professional standards for, and regulation of, NHS managers.

Regulating managers will strengthen their professional accountability by providing a consistent and fair means of addressing concerns about conduct or performance, protecting the public by removing those from the profession whose conduct is unacceptable.

The consultation had a high level of engagement, with 4,924 responses, over 100 of which were from organisations. I would like to put on record my sincere gratitude towards everyone who took the time to share their views on this pivotal piece of work.

Having considered these views, the government will be bringing forward legislation to provide the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) with the powers to run a statutory barring system for NHS board level leaders and their direct reports so that those who commit serious misconduct or silence whistleblowers will not be able to practise in senior roles in the NHS. We will explore what further steps can be taken so that those barred from working in the NHS are not employed in equivalent roles in social care.

It is equally essential that managers and leaders are supported with the skills they need to deliver transformation in the NHS and that they can access development opportunities that enable them to meet the high standards that will be expected of them. This is why today’s consultation response builds on our wider programme of leadership and management development that will ensure patient, public and professional confidence in NHS leadership and equip the NHS with the leaders needed to deliver our 10-year health plan. This programme of leadership reform, designed to strengthen the capability, confidence and accountability of NHS managers includes the establishment of the College of Executive and Clinical Leadership. As part of our work to develop the College, we will work with stakeholders to consider whether there are forms of accreditation that could be implemented to recognise the professionalism of NHS managers and leaders. This will be complemented by wider work to strengthen NHS leadership, including NHS England’s Leadership and Management framework, the NHS Very Senior Manager pay framework, and the implementation of General Sir Gordon Messenger’s recommendations to establish a national and regional strategic approach to talent management in the NHS.

The consultation also asked about the introduction of a professional duty of candour for NHS leaders, if leaders should be under a duty to ensure that the existing statutory (organisational) duty is correctly followed in their organisation and about the responsibility of leaders to respond to patient safety concerns.

These issues have been highlighted in previous reviews and inquiries including the Kark review (2019), the Infected Blood Inquiry (IBI) (2024) and the Thirlwall Inquiry into events at the Countess of Chester hospital. This consultation response reinforces the responsibility of leaders and managers in relation to candour and patient safety. As we implement regulation of managers, take forward recommendations from the IBI and consider the implications of the Cabinet Office’s proposed Hillsborough Law, we will consider what further sanctions may be required in relation to failing to uphold the principle of candour.

Next steps

Department officials will prepare draft legislation to provide the HCPC with the powers to implement a statutory disbarring regime for NHS managers. When parliamentary time allows we intend to bring forward this legislation, which will be subject to a further public consultation. We will continue to engage with stakeholders throughout and we will work closely with NHS England to ensure alignment with the wider work underway to develop and professionalise NHS managers and leaders.

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Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care

Ensuring strong and accountable NHS leadership will be critical to fixing a broken NHS and delivering our Health Mission. We know the important role that high quality leadership plays in fostering a positive, compassionate, and transparent culture within the NHS while ensuring that local organisations are anchors of growth and opportunity in the areas that they serve.

Currently, NHS managers and leaders are not a regulated profession. Today, I am announcing that the Department of Health and Social Care is launching a 12-week consultation on options for the regulation of NHS managers, as part of a programme of work to meet the government’s manifesto commitment to introduce professional standards for, and regulation of, NHS managers.

This issue, and the related question of the duty of candour, has been variously highlighted by the Kark review (2019), the Infected Blood Inquiry (2024) and the ongoing Thirlwall Inquiry into events at the Countess of Chester hospital.

It is essential that managers are also supported with the skills they need to deliver transformation and increase productivity in the NHS, which is why today’s consultation forms part of a wider programme of leadership and management development work to equip the NHS with the leaders needed to deliver our 10 Year Plan. This includes establishing a College of Executive and Clinical Leadership to champion and enhance the support available to NHS leaders, and asking Sir Gordon Messenger, through the 10 Year Plan process, to look at how we can accelerate efforts to develop more systematic talent management in the NHS.

This consultation seeks views from all partners, including health and care organisations, regulators, professional bodies, health and care managers and senior leaders, the public, patients, and other health and care staff on the most effective way to strengthen oversight and accountability of NHS managers.

We are seeking views on:

the type of regulation that may be most appropriate for managers

which managers should be in scope for any future regulatory system

what kind of body should exercise such a regulatory function

what types of standards managers should be required to demonstrate as part of a future system of regulation

the sequencing of the introduction of a regulatory regime for NHS managers, alongside work that is already being undertaken by NHS England to support their development

a new professional duty of candour to cover NHS managers, and making managers accountable for responding to concerns about patient safety.

We are today also publishing a separate report on the findings of the department’s call for evidence (launched in April 2024) on the existing statutory duty of candour on providers, which is a key step to fulfilling a recommendation from the Infected Blood Inquiry. We will use the findings of our consultation on manager regulation, and the call for evidence, to help inform the final response to the department’s review of the statutory duty of candour.

Views from partners will be critical in informing further policy decisions during the next phase of this work to support and improve NHS leadership. We will publish our findings and set out next steps following the closure of the consultation.

Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care

Decisions about the budget for the inquiry will be confirmed in due course.

Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care

I am today announcing the Terms of Reference for the Thirlwall Inquiry into the wider circumstances around what happened at the Countess of Chester Hospital, following the convictions of Lucy Letby.

When deciding to launch a statutory inquiry at the request of the families, I was clear that they must be involved in shaping its scope. I am pleased that Lady Justice Thirlwall and her team have worked closely with the families and key stakeholders to ensure that the Inquiry will get them the answers that they need and that lessons are learned from these horrific events.

The Inquiry will investigate three broad areas:

The experiences of the parents of the babies named in the indictment.

The conduct of clinical and non-clinical staff and management, as well as governance and escalation processes in relation to concerns being raised about Lucy Letby and whether these structures contributed to the failure to protect babies from her.

The effectiveness of governance, external scrutiny and professional regulation in keeping babies in hospital safe, including consideration of NHS culture.

The Terms of Reference have today been published on Gov.UK. I have deposited copies of the Terms of Reference in the Libraries of Both Houses.

The Inquiry’s work will now be a matter for the Judge. Lady Justice Thirlwall has indicated that she does not currently intend to appoint a panel to support her in this work, though the appointment of an assessor will be kept under review. I will ensure that the Inquiry has the resources it needs to carry out this important work and to continue to support the families.

I know Lady Justice Thirlwall and her team will undertake the Inquiry thoroughly and as swiftly as possible.