§ Dr. Vaughanasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will make a statement on the report of the committee on hospital complaints procedure.
§ Sir K. JosephThe committee's terms of reference were
To provide the hospital service with practical guidance in the form of a code of principles and practice for recording and investigating matters affecting patients which go wrong in hospitals; for receiving complaints or suggestions by patients, staff or others about such matters; and for communicating the results of investigations; and to make recommendations".In preparing its report the committee has taken into account the decisions, taken since its appointment, to establish the Health Service Commissioner and community health councils.My right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Wales and I are most grateful to Sir Michael Davies and his colleagues for the thorough report they have now made to us on this complex subject. It has been published today by Her Majesty's Stationery Office and a copy has been placed in the Library. We are now consulting health service authorities and professional and other interested organisations before taking decisions on the important and far-reaching recommendations which the report contains. Some of these recommendations are controversial and will need considerable thought. We hope to be able to issue guidance to the new health authorities on this subject a few months after they take up their responsibilities for managing the health service next April.