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Health and Social Care Bill

There may be occasions when it is one of his colleagues’ responsibilities to solve the problem. That is not to say that he will not be responsible for it, but it may not be something that he or she should necessarily deal with. It is important to recognise that there will be cases when it will not be appropriate to provide all forms of support—for example, in the most serious cases, when a criminal prosecution is being undertaken. I do not think that that is the purpose of the amendment, although I have a great deal of sympathy with the intention behind the noble Baroness’s amendment. Amendment No. 149 proposes that the responsible officer role should be piloted in at least two geographical areas. I understand the reasoning behind the amendment but I hope that I can reassure the Committee that, in creating responsible officers, we are putting existing best practice on a statutory footing. A principal element of the role of responsible officer is clinical governance. Much of the role that we are proposing for responsible officers is already undertaken, as has been said, in the best organisations and has already been shown to be effective. However, we know that this best practice is being inconsistently applied, which is one reason why we have introduced these measures in this Bill. The noble Earl, Lord Howe, asked about the safeguards to ensure that responsible officers have a good reputation and can be trusted to do the job properly. The requirements for appointments will be set out in secondary legislation. However, we expect that responsible officers will have to be registered with the GMC and that they will be senior doctors in their organisation. As such, they can be expected to have already established a reputation and standing among their peers. In most organisations, that senior doctor will be the medical director or someone similar. The noble Earl and the noble Baroness, Lady Cumberlege, also asked how GMC affiliates fit in with responsible officers. The responsible officer will work for the NHS and other healthcare organisations and he or she will be based in the organisation. The GMC affiliate will work for the GMC. He or she will be the GMC’s local representative. Clearly, the GMC affiliate will be the responsible officer’s link point to the national regulatory framework of the GMC to ensure that there is a sensible relationship between legal clinical governance and national professional regulation. That is what is intended. I hope that I have been able to reassure noble Lords—