§ Lord Mottistoneasked Her Majesty's Government:
What arrangements they propose for the management of the special hospitals once the Rampton Hospital Review Board completes its period in office in June.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Security (Baroness Trumpington)The Rampton Hospital Review Board was established in 1981, following the Boynton Committee's inquiry into the management of the hospital. Previously Rampton had been run by a management team, chaired by a medical director reporting directly to officials in the department. This arrangement still applies to the other special hospitals—Broadmoor, Moss Side and Park Lane. It means centralised management from London and deprives the hospital of local support in translating national policies into local practices.
The establishment of the review board at Rampton provided an intermediate arrangements tier between the hospital management team and the department. The board is chaired by a businessman and has members with relevant interests and experience who know the hospital well and can stand a little apart from the day-to-day business. The board has been able to provide closer oversight of the hospital management team and strengthen its accountability. It has also introduced tighter mechanisms of financial control and has generally encouraged better management practices. The hospital has clearly benefited from the establishment of the board and its image has also improved.
My right honourable friend has therefore decided that a permanent local board should be established at Rampton Hospital when the term of the present review board expires in June. Like the existing board, it will be a special health authority and accountable to him.
The other special hospitals face the same challenges and can also benefit from the wider perspective and fresh insights of an informed local board. My right honourable friend will therefore be appointing a local board for Broadmoor and one for the two Merseyside hospitals, Moss Side and Park Lane, to enhance the effectiveness and accountability of the Special Hospitals Service as a whole. The aim is to establish the other two boards by the end of the year. The 1037WA necessary statutory instruments will be introduced in due course. My right honourable friend's overall responsibilities as Secretary of State will remain unchanged.