§ Baroness Noakesasked Her Majesty's Government:
How they will respond to the Chairman of the British Medical Association who wrote in BMA News on 19 October that "the frustration and antagonism felt by doctors whose hands are tied by government diktat… is compounded when NHS managers massage figures to placate their political masters''. [HL6084]
§ Lord Hunt of Kings Heath:The Department of Health launched a new code of conduct for managers on 9 October. The code will cover all senior National Health Service managers and sets out clearly the standards of behaviour expected of them.
Serious breaches of the code, such as financial fraud, providing false information or negligence in providing for the safety of patients, could be regarded as gross misconduct and could lead to dismissal. NHS employers are required to make proper and detailed checks on all prospective employees before making an unconditional appointment. Applied properly, these checks should ensure that a manager who had been previously dismissed, made redundant or resigned for disciplinary reasons is not re-employed as a manager in the NHS.