§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when he expects to issue further advice to 1113W putative NHS foundation trusts on the use of existing databases of (a) patients and (b) staff names for the purposes of creating a membership register; [139715]
(2) when he expects to issue advice on the implications of the (a) Data Protection Act 1998 and (b) Freedom of Information Act 2000 on the (i) compilation and (ii) use of membership registers of NHS foundation trusts. [139716]
§ Mr. HuttonSubject to Parliament, it is the Government's intention that national health service foundation trusts will be required to have a members register. Officials are working with the first wave of applicants and organisations with expertise in maintaining membership organisations with a view to developing practical advice to be incorporated into an updated edition of "NHS Foundation Trusts: A guide to the governance arrangements".
§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will issue advice to putative NHS foundation trusts on the nature of the questions they may ask prospective members concerning their(a) ethnicity, (b) faith and (c) disability. [139717]
§ Mr. HuttonDepartment of Health officials are working with the first wave of applicants and organisations with expertise in maintaining membership organisations on the sorts of information that national health service foundation trusts would need to collect to ensure their membership is representative of those eligible for membership. The Department will develop practical advice on these matters to be incorporated into an updated edition of "NHS Foundation Trusts: A Guide to the Governance Arrangements".