§ Mr. Emeryasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what action he has taken to ensure that the recommendations made by Sir Alan Marre have been carried out concerning clinical tests made on any patients at National Health hospitals.
§ Mr. MoyleA guidance circular was Issued in June 1975 on the supervision of the ethics of clinical research investigations and this quoted the recommation of the Royal College of Physicians that, except for very minor procedures—for example, venepuncture—an explanation should be given by responsible persons in the presence of a witness and the agreement of the subject or patient should be recorded with the signature of the person who gave the explanation and of the witness. In addition, the 1974–75 Annual Report of the Health Service Commissioner, in which the recommendations to which the hon. Member refers were reported, was issued to all health authorities.
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§ Mr. Emeryasked the Secretary of State tor Social Services if he will give an assurance that no patient in any hospital has clinical tests or experiments carried out on the patient without the test or experiment being noted on the person's case history.
§ Mr. MoyleIt is normal practice for the results of all tests relevant to a patient's medical care to be recorded in his case history. Where a patient gives full consent for some experimental test to be carried out, as guidance on the supervision of the ethics of clinical research investigations recommends, this should be recorded in the case history, unless the test is of a very minor nature, such as a venepuncture. However, the results of the test need not be kept in the case history when they are not directly relevant to the patient's care.