§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if Burnley Health Care NHS trust acted in accordance with the NHS code of openness in respect of the timescale of release of details of the incident at Burnley general hospital in which ophthalmic patients each lost an eye. [23862]
§ Mr. MaloneThe code of practice on openness in the national health service, which takes effect on 1 June, will increase public access to information held by the NHS. Burnley Health Care NHS trust, in recognising the sensitivity of the incident, issued a press release as soon as treatment of all the affected patients had been completed and the full facts were known. Its action was entirely in keeping with the spirit of the code of practice.