Safeguarding

Safeguarding Patients 137
No*
Page
no
Inquiry recommendation
Government response
Para
Comment
59b 33 The Department of Health should
consider whether or not, and if so how
and in what circumstances, any such
information should be transferable
between the NHS and the private
sector.
60 33 The Department of Health in
association with NIMHE and the Royal
College of Psychiatrists should publish
guidance in relation to clinical
supervision of consultant and career
grade psychiatrists.
61 33 Any deviation from acceptable practice
[in applying the principles of the new
disciplinary framework for doctors] in
mental health services should be
identified by the relevant statutory
regulatory body and, where
appropriate, by Monitor, and a
standard, fair and transparent set of
rules governing conduct of all mental
health NHS staff in all NHS bodies and
Foundation Trusts be quickly
established.
62 34 The Secretary of State should invite
the CRHE to consider (with a grant of
additional powers if necessary), in
relation to the regulation of healthcare
professionals, the application of
common standards, practices and
procedures so that patient safety can
more effectively be protected.
8.6 Accept. This will be covered in
the discussion on information
sharing described in relation to
recommendation 58 above.
7.8 The government does not accept
that the risks associated with
autonomous clinical practice are
different in kind for psychiatry as
compared to other clinical
disciplines. The general
safeguards described in this
document and in Trust,
assurance and safety should be
sufficient to ensure that any poor
practice or deliberate abuse is
rapidly identified and dealt with, in
psychiatry as in other disciplines.
7.9 Trust Boards have the primary
responsibility of ensuring that
good practice in relation to the
new disciplinary framework for
doctors is applied throughout the
trust. Where the Healthcare
Commission identify any
significant deviations, we would
expect them to draw this to the
attention of the Trust board and
to Monitor or the SHA as
appropriate. If necessary, further
regulatory action might follow.
CHRE’s role already includes the
development of common
standards and processes across
the health professional regulators.
This is likely to be an increasingly
important part of their activities.
See chapter 1 of Trust, assurance
and safety.