§ Lynne Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the omission of (a) community health councils and (b) patient forums from the list of patient organisations who were sent the consultation document, "Choice, Responsiveness and Equity". [141936]
§ Mr. Hutton:The consultation document referred to was a resource pack developed specifically for strategic health authorities (SHAs) and voluntary organisations to support them in leading local consultations. It was 784W not sent directly to community health councils (CHCs) as SHAs were responsible for involving CHCs in the local health community's contribution to the consultation. Patient and public involvement forums were not established until after the consultation period closed and therefore could not be consulted.
The resource document was openly available online or through the NHS Response Line.