§ Mrs. Renee Shortasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what steps he intends to take to ensure that the cases of complaints of ill-treatment to elderly and physically and mentally-handicapped patients mentioned in the annual report of the Health Service Commissioner are thoroughly investigated.
§ Mr. John Patten[pursuant to his reply, 22 July 1985]: We require health authorities to prepare a report at the time of any accident or other worrying incident and require authorities to investigate all complaints or incidents thoroughly, fairly and promptly. Health authorities may be called before the Select Committee on the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration to answer for their actions in cases investigated by the Health Service Commissioner. We study all the cases reported and consider whether we should give further guidance to all authorities in the light of them.