NHSE board members face regulation under government proposals

A major consultation on introducing professional regulation of NHS managers and leaders proposes applying the measures to NHS England board members.

One of the questions in the Department of Health and Social Care’s consultation on regulating NHS managers, published this afternoon, asks participants whether “appropriate board members at arms-length bodies (for example, NHS England)” should face a system of regulation.

However, the consultation does not ask participants whether NHSE employees should be included in plans for an individual statutory duty of candour, which could see managers face legal penalties for failing to report safety concerns.

Instead, it only asks if managers at Care Quality Commission-regulated organisations should face tougher legal accountability, and at which level this should be considered.

The consultation, set to run for 12 weeks, will consider the type of regulatory system that would be deemed appropriate, which managers should be in scope, what kind of body should be responsible for its regulation, and what types of standards managers should be required to demonstrate.

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Source: HSJ, 27 November 2024