HC Deb 13 March 1986 vol 93 cc561-2W
Mrs. Peacock

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he has received the reports of the Wakefield health authority and the Yorkshire regional health authority on points raised by the Stanley Royd inquiry; whether they are to be published; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Fowler

I have received a letter from the chairman of the Yorkshire regional health authority enclosing both reports. The authorities are publishing their reports and the letter today. I have placed copies in the Library.

The district's report records a wide range of changes designed to achieve the highest possible catering and hygiene standards in the kitchens at Stanley Royd and elsewhere in the district. They include the production of comprehensive written instructions relating to all aspects of catering and good hygiene practice throughout the district; regular training; frequent unannounced inspections by supervisors and managers; the introduction of quality control procedures; and the appointment of a district catering manager with full responsibility and authority for catering services. The Stanley Royd kitchen staffing level and bonus scheme are being reviewed as recommended in the report. A replacement kitchen is being built at Stanley Royd and is due to be completed early next year. Substantial interim improvements to the kitchen structure and equipment have been made.

The RHA has instituted the quarterly review of capital schemes recommended by the inquiry and has made other changes designed to improve its capital planning. It has also appointed a regional catering hygiene adviser from 7 April to be responsible for ensuring high standards throughout the region. Each of the districts in the region has responded to a request from the regional health authority that it considers the inquiry report's recommendations and a summary of what went wrong at Stanley Royd. The RHA will follow up these responses.

I am pleased to note that the ratio of nurses to patients at Stanley Royd has improved considerably since September 1984 and that further improvements are being sought. The district's report reiterates that problems of recruitment rather than finance are the source of difficulty. On finance, the RHA's response confirms that it is to review its policy for the withdrawal of funds from institutions as patient numbers fall.

The responses record that the authorities decided that eight individuals should be the subject of disciplinary investigation. Subsequently, it has been decided that no further action should be taken in the case of one of these individuals while another has been dismissed as a result of disciplinary proceedings which were already in train.

The inquiry report showed that the basic cause of the outbreak was a failure in management. As the chairman of the RHA said in his letter, there can be no doubt that the root cause of that failure lay in the defective system of management, common throughout the health service, in which accountability and the roles of both officers and authorities was unclear". The reports show that both authorities are making substantial changes to their management arrangements. In the case of the regional health authority the changes extend to the nature of its relationship with districts and to the development of a monitoring policy, though it is clear that much more work remains to be done on the details of monitoring. I welcome the broad thrust of the changes being made.

In the short time since the publication of the inquiry report on 21 January it would not have have been practicable for the two authorities to complete all relevant action. However, their reports show that substantial progress on a wide front has been made since the outbreak occurred: in particular, great efforts have been made to raise standards of kitchen hygiene in Wakefield's hospitals. This progress reflects close collaboration with the local environmental health officers who are satisfied that every effort is being made to raise standards at Wakefield to the highest levels.

More generally, as the House is aware, on 6 February I announced the Government's intention to bring forward legislation to apply the requirements of the Food Act 1984 to health authorities. This legal change, along with the strengthened guidance which we shall be issuing on hygiene issues, will underpin the new management measures being introduced by Wakefield and Yorkshire health authorities.