Safeguarding

Safeguarding Patients 63
Kerr/Haslam Inquiry p32: The Department of Health should convene a working party to consider
what information it is necessary to record about complaints in order for them to be of use in clinical
governance and the circumstances and form in which it is appropriate to record suspicions.
p33: The Department of Health should clearly state what information can be included in relation
to electronic staff records relating to complaints, proven/unproven incidents, disciplinary
investigations and findings. Such a record should be established in standard form and, once
established, should move with the individual to reduce the risk of staff evading detection of past
misdemeanours.
p33: Regulatory bodies (with responsibility for the regulation and discipline of psychiatrists
and other mental healthcare professionals) and the Department of Health should be under a
clear duty, in the public interest, to share information about disciplinary investigations or other
related proceedings. This duty should extend to information known to the regulatory bodies
and the Department of Health relating to disciplinary investigations and related proceedings,
even if conducted outside the United Kingdom. Consideration should be given to the collection
and retention of all information relevant to patient safety, including unsubstantiated complaints,
unproven allegations and informal concerns.
8.3 The Department agrees in principle that all healthcare organisations should maintain files for
each of their professional employees or (for PCTs) for health professionals performing services to
patients for whom they are responsible xi . We agree that this “file” – which might be a set of paper
files or of interconnected electronic files – should hold all material relating to the quality of the
services provided by the individual professional. (Much of the information gathered for clinical
governance purposes will relate to the practice or clinical team rather than to the individual; we do
not think it would be helpful to duplicate this material in the individual files, but it could be crossreferenced.)
8.4 We recognise the importance of ensuring that PCTs and employers are aware of concurrent
employment of health professionals and have made arrangements to share information on
concerns, especially where patient safety is at issue. The 2006 Health Act 81 contains an explicit
duty on healthcare organisations to share information related specifically to concerns over the
possible misuse or diversion of controlled drugs, and related guidance has been issued describing
the role of local “networks” coordinated by the Accountable Officer of a lead PCT 82 . We will
discuss with stakeholders the possibility of extending these principles to the sharing of
other information relating to potential threats to patient safety.
8.5 The Department agrees that, if a health professional moves from one organisation to another,
the file should with their knowledge be transferred to the new organisation. Similarly, if a professional
works regularly for patients of more than one healthcare organisation – for instance, a GP who
provides services to patients as a partner of a primary care practice but also has a sessional
appointment in a secondary care trust – then a copy of relevant information in the file should be
made available to the other PCT/trust, with arrangements for regular updating.
8.6 We agree that the Department, or another central organisation such as NHS Employers,
should issue guidance on the content of files to be kept by PCTs and employers, and also
on the principles for creating and giving access to records. This will be taken forward in
xi There is a particular issue for primary care practitioners who are on the Performers List of one PCT but provide services to patients in
another PCT; for instance, under current arrangements, a GP can move to a completely different area but still stay on the Performers List
of their original PCT. The principles set out in this section will still apply in these circumstances, but the detailed implementation will be for
discussion in the review of the Performers List arrangements described at para 4.35 above.