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Patient Safety

I will mention that when I draw my comments to a conclusion. My Department must do what it can to corral the interests in patient safety to ensure that each complements the other. As well as clinical care, there are other areas that the Committee said we must not forget. For example, there is no doubt about the potential for information technology to bring significant patient safety benefits. Medication errors, record documentation error and communication failure feature among the most common major causes of patient safety incidents. The Department of Health recently established a national stakeholder group to consider how best to facilitate the acceleration of implementation of such technologies in the NHS. It cannot come soon enough as far as this Minister is concerned. We promised the Committee a review on the implementation of "Coding for Success", which is a policy document from 2006. It focuses on the use of barcoding and other auto-identification technology to make services safer. That policy document dates from 2006, and we need to fast-track it. The review is in progress, and we will share the outcome with the Committee shortly. We must continue to ensure that as well as listening to patients and their families and carers, we include patient safety champions in our national dialogue. The National Patient Safety Forum was established for exactly that purpose. It is linking into the work of the recently established National Quality Board to ensure that patient safety is not seen as an afterthought, but is promoted as an integral part of health care delivery. I will try to address some of the points that were raised during the debate, including the recent one raised by the hon. Member for Romsey. Time will not constrain me because the debate may continue, but my eyesight may constrain me in fully delivering all the answers that my dedicated and hard-working officials have prepared for me. I will do my best. On the NHS Redress Act 2006, changes in arrangements by the NHS Litigation Authority have resulted in quicker settlement of claims, particularly when they are small and straightforward. Case note reviews are a central feature of the patient safety first campaign, and not a one-off. They are carried out regularly every month with lessons learned and improvements made. On NHS foundation trusts, the Secretary of State said that it is absolutely essential that FT board meetings are held in public. There is absolutely no need for such meetings to be held in private, and we will monitor that. The purpose of the legislation on foundation trusts was to make boards more accountable; foundation trusts were brought into being so that they would be more accountable to the public. Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust did not hold board meetings in public. It should have done, but it chose not to. There is clear guidance that all foundation trusts should hold board meetings in public, and the Secretary of State gave a clear reminder of that recently. On the summary of care records, this major initiative is being rolled out nationally. The BMA only recently raised concerns. The work is still in progress, but I am assured that progress is being made. The hon. Member for Romsey asked why there was no requirement for patient incidents to be reported to the CQC—