§ Mr. MilburnTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what guidelines are issued by her Department about the monitoring of decisions affecting extra-contractual referrals;
(2) what guidelines are issued by her Department about the rights of patients to appeal against extra-contractual referral decisions;
(3) what guidelines are issued by her Department about whether decisions on extra-contractual referrals are notified (a) to district health authority members and (b) community health councils.
§ Dr. MawhinneyDistrict health authorities are responsible for approving and monitoring extra-contractual referrals and, therefore, will have access to decisions made about them. No specific guidelines exist about whether to notify community health councils about decisions on extra-contractual referrals.
From 1 April 1992, the patients charter has given patients the right to have any complaint about national health service services—whoever provides them investigated and to receive a full and prompt written reply from the chief executive or general manager.