Search Legislation

Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003

Section 45: Quality in health care

147.Section 45 places a duty on all NHS bodies to ensure that appropriate arrangements are in place to monitor and improve the quality of health care they provide or commission. This replaces the current duty of quality in section 18 of the Health Act 1999. Under subsection (2), “health care” includes the promotion and protection of public health, whereas in the Health Act 1999 it was limited to services for or in connection with the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of illness.

148.Subsection (3) states that ‘illness’ has the same meaning as in section 128(1) of the 1977 Act, that it includes mental disorder within the meaning of the Mental Health Act 1959 and any injury or disability requiring medical or dental treatment or nursing.

Back to top

Options/Help

Print Options

Close

Explanatory Notes

Text created by the government department responsible for the subject matter of the Act to explain what the Act sets out to achieve and to make the Act accessible to readers who are not legally qualified. Explanatory Notes were introduced in 1999 and accompany all Public Acts except Appropriation, Consolidated Fund, Finance and Consolidation Acts.

Close

More Resources

Access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item from this tab. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:

  • the original print PDF of the as enacted version that was used for the print copy
  • lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
  • confers power and blanket amendment details
  • all formats of all associated documents
  • correction slips
  • links to related legislation and further information resources