§ Ms. Colquhounasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will make a statement about the review of the Health Service Commissioner's jurisdiction that the Select Committee on the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration was asked to undertake.
§ Mr. EnnalsThe Select Committee has now submitted its report on the review of the jurisdiction of the Health Service Commissioner that they undertook at the request of my predecessor, my right hon. Friend the Member for Blackburn (Mrs. Castle) and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland and my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Wales. The review was announced in my right hon. Friend's reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Eccles (Mr. Carter-Jones) on 9th February 1976.—[Vol. 905, c.85–6.]—I am most grateful to the Select Committee for the report. The Select Committee received a large amount of written and oral evidence from a wide and representative range of bodies. The problem of dealing with complaints to health authorities involving a clinical component is both difficult and controversial. My right hon. Friends and I will study the report and its recommendations with great care and we will be having early consultations with health authorities and with representatives of the medical and dental professions.