National Health Service Act 2006

Chapter 2 Public involvement and consultation

242 Public involvement and consultation

(1) This section applies to—

(a) Strategic Health Authorities,

(b) Primary Care Trusts,

(c) NHS trusts, and

(d) NHS foundation trusts.

(2) Each body to which this section applies must make arrangements with a view to securing, as respects health services for which it is responsible, that persons to whom those services are being or may be provided are, directly or through representatives, involved in and consulted on—

(a) the planning of the provision of those services,

(b) the development and consideration of proposals for changes in the way those services are provided, and

(c) decisions to be made by that body affecting the operation of those services.

(3) For the purposes of this section a body is responsible for health services—

(a) if the body provides or will provide those services to individuals, or

(b) if another person provides, or will provide, those services to individuals—

(i) at that body’s direction,

(ii) on its behalf, or

(iii) in accordance with an agreement or arrangements made by that body with that other person,

and references in this section to the provision of services include references to the provision of services jointly with another person.

(4) Subsection (5) applies to health services for which a Strategic Health Authority is not responsible by virtue of subsection (3), but which are or will be provided to individuals in the area of the Strategic Health Authority, and for which—

(a) a Primary Care Trust any part of whose area falls within the Strategic Health Authority’s area, or

(b) an NHS trust which provides services at or from a hospital or other establishment or facility which falls within the Strategic Health Authority’s area,

is responsible by virtue of subsection (3).

(5) A Strategic Health Authority may give directions to Primary Care Trusts falling within paragraph (a) of subsection (4), and NHS trusts falling within paragraph (b) of that subsection, as to the arrangements which they are to make under subsection (2) in relation to health services to which this subsection applies.

243 The Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health

(1) There continues to be a body corporate known as the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health (“the Commission”) to exercise the functions set out in subsections (2) to (5) (in addition to its function of appointing members of Patients' Forums).

(2) The Commission has the following functions—

(a) advising the Secretary of State, and such bodies as may be prescribed, about arrangements for public involvement in, and consultation on, matters relating to the health service in England,

(b) advising the Secretary of State, and such bodies as may be prescribed, about arrangements for the provision in England of independent advocacy services,

(c) representing to the Secretary of State and such bodies as may be prescribed, and advising him and them on, the views, as respects the arrangements referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b), of Patients' Forums and those voluntary organisations and other bodies appearing to the Commission to represent the interests of patients of the health service in England and their carers,

(d) providing staff to Patients' Forums established for Primary Care Trusts, and advice and assistance to Patients' Forums and facilitating the co-ordination of their activities,

(e) advising and assisting providers of independent advocacy services in England,

(f) setting quality standards relating to any aspect of—

(i) the way Patients Forums exercise their functions, and

(ii) the services provided by independent advocacy services in England,

monitoring how successfully they meet those standards, and making recommendations to them about how to improve their performance against those standards,

(g) such other functions in relation to England as may be prescribed.

(3) It is also the function of the Commission to promote the involvement of members of the public in England in consultations or processes leading (or potentially leading) to decisions by those mentioned in subsection (4), or the formulation of policies by them, which would or might affect (whether directly or not) the health of those members of the public.

(4) The decisions in question are those made by—

(a) health service bodies,

(b) other public bodies, and

(c) others providing services to the public or a section of the public.

(5) It is also the function of the Commission—

(a) to review the annual reports of Patients' Forums made under section 240, and

(b) to make, to the Secretary of State or to such other persons or bodies as the Commission considers appropriate, such reports or recommendations as the Commission considers appropriate concerning any matters arising from those annual reports.

(6) If the Commission—

(a) becomes aware in the course of exercising its functions of any matter connected with the health service in England which in its opinion gives rise to concerns about the safety or welfare of patients, and

(b) is not satisfied that the matter is being dealt with, or about the way it is being dealt with,

the Commission must report the matter to whichever person or body it considers most appropriate (or, if it considers it appropriate to do so, to more than one person or body).

(7) Bodies to whom the Commission might report a matter include—

(a) the regulatory body for the profession of a person working in the health service,

(b) the Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection.

(8) The Commission may make such charges as it considers appropriate for the provision of advice and other services (but this is subject to any prescribed limitation).

(9) The Secretary of State may by regulations make further provision in relation to the Commission.

(10) The regulations may, in particular, make provision as to the provision of information (including descriptions of information which must or must not be provided) to the Commission by a Strategic Health Authority, a Primary Care Trust, an NHS trust, a Special Health Authority, an NHS foundation trust, a Patients' Forum or a provider of independent advocacy services.

(11) Schedule 16 makes further provision about the Commission.

(12) In this section—

• “carer” and “patient” have the same meaning as in section 237,

• “the health service” includes services provided in pursuance of section 75 arrangements in relation to the exercise of health-related functions of a local authority,

• “health service bodies” means Strategic Health Authorities, Primary Care Trusts, NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts,

• “independent advocacy services” means services provided under section 248,

• “section 75 arrangements” means arrangements under regulations under section 75.