§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many(a) organisations and (b) regulators are entitled to (i) inspect and (ii) regulate NHS hospital trusts in England. [154009]
§ Mr. HuttonUsing the definition in The Better Regulation Task Force's report, "Independent Regulators", there are 31 bodies with the right to inspect or regulate national health service hospital trusts in England. However, 18 of these are regulators of the professions, or professional bodies, whose inspection roles apply only to training which a hospital might provide.
1043WFrom 1 April 2004, the Commission for Health Improvement, the Social Services Inspectorate and the National Care Standards Commission will cease to exist. At the same time, three new bodies will be introduced: the Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection, the Commission for Social Care inspection and the Foundation Trusts Regulator, but in most cases they will replace or rationalise a number of the functions of existing bodies.