Speeches by Johnson.

“Q The Bill requires that Healthwatch be abolished, to an extent, and that local authorities do their own inpatient engagement instead, but they do not seem to be mandated to do so in quite the same way. Local authorities are under financial pressure. Do you believe that such engagement will happen at all, or to the sam…”

“Q I should perhaps reiterate that I am a member of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. Dr Dickson, NHS England has responsibility for workforce and workforce planning. How will the Bill affect that, and what effect is the delayed and delayed and delayed workforce plan having on the ability to plan the wo…”

“Q So, in essence, the fact that NHS England is being abolished, whether that is the right or wrong thing to do, will have an effect on the delivery of new services? Dr Dickson: We are delivering services as normal, but that head space and the innovation to see what the future should be and to work towards that future a…”

“Q I want to move on to the single patient record. Do you feel that general practice has had enough information about its role in terms of who is responsible, who is accountable, who will be editing and who will be responsible for checking that the editors are right on this single patient record? Dr Dickson: The legisla…”

“Q I have one small question. Dr Dickson, even in paediatrics I have looked after patients who have ring binder after ring binder of notes. Clearly, when seeing a patient for 20 or 30 minutes in clinic, there is not time to read ring binders and ring binders of notes. To what extent will the single patient record oblige…”

“The question is, how do you find it within the way it is structured?”

“Q Good morning, Dr Benneyworth. There seems to have been a bit of a muddle in how some of this has been expressed this morning. For clarity, could you explain how a regulator is different from an investigatory body, please? Dr Benneyworth: We are a safety investigator. We have been modelled on other industries that hav…”

“Q Earlier on it was asked what would happen if the HSSIB was rolled into the CQC, yet the problem with the healthcare was a failure of the CQC to properly regulate or investigate. I was a little bit lost for words at that point. How would that work in practice? Or would it not? Dr Benneyworth: I think it will be very d…”

“Q Another question that has been raised about independence is the choice of what to investigate. The Secretary of State can direct, but the impact assessment suggests that the Government intend to direct the vast majority of investigations. Is it currently the case, or has it been the case in the past, that the vast ma…”

“Q Earlier in this session we heard concerns that you keep some information secret. You have the safe space legislation in place. Does that improve or weaken safety? Dr Benneyworth: There is no doubt that it helps to improve safety. That is something we have learned from 100 years of the air accidents investigation bran…”

“Q Good morning, Sir Jeremy, and thank you for coming to the Committee this morning. You are our longest serving Health Secretary and you focused much of your tenure on patient safety. I understand you are still part of the all-party parliamentary group on patient safety, so that focus is continuing now. How does HSSIB …”

“Q We have the Hughes report that is two years from recommendation and we have not got an answer to that one yet. Our previous witness talked about a repository for recommendations—a sort of national hub to put them all into. Do you have any thoughts on that? Sir Jeremy Hunt: What HSSIB has done is positive but it is st…”

“Q60 Good afternoon, gentlemen. My first question is to the NHS Alliance. In a survey published last month, your organisation found that two thirds of trusts and integrated care board leaders are likely to need to cut or reduce patient services to meet their financial plans. Given the financial pressure that ICBs are cl…”

“Q The ICBs and trusts are going to operate under the spectre of direct intervention by the Secretary of State, who is taking much more interventional powers in this Bill. What effect will that have on the health system? Sir Ciarán Devane: We are unclear and concerned about what the nature of those interventions could b…”

“Q Mr Blythe, what value does your council of governors add to your trust? James Blythe: Councils of governors across the NHS have added significant value since they were instituted and brought into foundation trusts. The foundation trust councils of governors play two roles. The first relates to the appointment and hol…”

“Q My first question, which is about specialist commissioning, is for James. Your charity is involved with palliative care for children. What effect do you think the changes in the Bill will have on the commissioning of very specialist, low volume and high complexity services? James Cooper: I think that there are both o…”

“Q My second question is for Professor Croisdale-Appleby. The CQC has been reported to be in a relatively difficult place, facing challenges at the moment. It is being asked to take on event healthcare supervision and roll the HSSIB within it. Is that asking too much? Professor Croisdale-Appleby: Obviously, I am not her…”

“Q What are your thoughts on the abolition of Healthwatch? Does Healthwatch have teeth? Does it influence people? Is it influencing the decision makers? Could it be reformed or should it be abolished? Professor Croisdale-Appleby: It is quite interesting to think that we have had 52 years of independent organisations rep…”

“Q Does removing local authority representation from ICBs weaken the link with local elected representatives, or is it beneficial? Councillor Wright: I assume that was directed at me, as I am a representative in local government. We feel it is going to weaken it. Having someone on the ICB is useful to help shape health …”

“Q Thank you. Maria, how do you think the Bill and all the changes around ICB funding will affect local services? To what extent does the process in itself cause disruption—or not? Maria Higson: Whenever we introduce these changes into the system we have to remember that we are talking about a group of professionals who…”