The Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence has been asked to host the next meeting of the National Advisory Group, which was proposed in ‘Trust, Assurance and Safety’, in spring 2008. A precise date and time has yet to be arranged. The Council has been asked to ensure that at least 50, of an estimated 500, places are available to patient and the public representatives.
Chairpersons of each of the seven national working groups will not be required to reflect a consensus position of all chairpersons of the seven working groups. Each chairperson has been selected for their personal expertise in a particular area and the recommendations which they make will be considered in their totality by Ministers.
As yet none of the working groups have reported, although we expect the Enhancing Confidence in Healthcare Professional Regulators chair to submit the report from his working group to the Department by the end of November.
The information requested is shown in the following table.
Patient and public representatives have been asked to contribute to working groups on an equal basis to other working group members.
Working group Sub-group Meeting dates Papers circulated on Patient and public representatives Date invited Number of meetings attended Enhancing Confidence in the Professional Regulators 6 November 2007 2 November 2007 Ms Margaret Goose, Chair of the Royal College of Physicians of London, Patient and Carer Involvement Steering Group 17 August 2007 Two of Three 12 October 2007 9 October 2007 21 September 2007 19 September 2007 Health for Health Professionals 13 August 2007 7 August 2007 Mr. Anthony Halperin, Acting Chair, Patients Association 6 August 2007 Two of Two 19 November 2007 15 November 2007 Ms Frances Blunden, Principal Policy Adviser, Which? 24 July 2007 One of Two Dr. Patricia Willkie, Patient/public representative, Academy of Medical Royal Colleges 24 July 2007 One of Two Medical Revalidation and Education 23 July 2007 20 July 2007 Ms Judy Wilson, Independent Consultant June 2007 Three of Three 8 October 2007 3 October 2007 19 November 2007 16 November 2007 Non-Medical Revalidation 23 July 2007 19 July 2007 Ms Kate Webb, Principal Policy Adviser, Which? 17 July 2007 Two of Two 1 November 2007 26 October 2007 Ms Judy Wilson, Independent Consultant 16 October 2007 One of One Tackling Concerns Locally 19 July 2007 16 July 2007 Ms Ann Alexander, Patients Association Trustee 2 July 2007 Delegate sent to Two of Two meetings 27 September 2007 24 September 2007 Mr. Peter Walsh, Action Against Medical Accidents Two of Two Tackling Concerns Locally, GMC Affiliates Sub-group 14 November 2007 8 November 2007 Peter Walsh, Action Against Medical Accidents 23 October 2007 One of One Ann Alexander, Patients Association 23 October 2007 Zero of One Frances Blunden, Principal Policy Adviser, Which? 23 October 2007 One of One Celia Davies, Visiting Professor LSE 23 October 2007 One of One Patricia Wilkie, Academy of Medical Royal Colleges Patient Liaison Group 23 October 2007 Zero of One Tackling Concerns Locally, Responsible Officer Sub-group 16 October 2007 11 October 2007 Jonathan Coe (Witness) 7 September 2007 Zero of Two 14 November 2007 8 November 2007 Tackling Concerns Locally, Performers List Sub-group 18 July 2007 This sub-group agreed to publish meeting papers on a dedicated internet-based workspace rather than circulate them by email 18 July 2007 No Public, patient involvement (PPI) Representative No PPI Representative 24 September 2007 24 September 2007 23 October 2007 23 October 2007 20 November 2007 20 November 2007 Tackling Concerns Locally, Raising Concerns and Managing Information Sub-group 7 December 2007 (planned) Group has yet to meet Peter Walsh (Action Against Medical Accidents) 13 November 2007 n/a Tackling Concerns Locally, Clinical Governance Sub-group 10 December 2007 (planned) Group has yet to meet Patient 15 November 2007 n/a Tackling Concerns Locally, Death Certification Sub-group To be confirmed (TBC) Group has yet to meet TBC Invitations have not yet been sent Group has yet to meet Extending Professional Regulation 21 November 2007 14 November 2007 Professor Celia Davies (nominated by Which) 24 October One of One Dr. Ron Walton (Vale of Glamorgan Community Health Council) 24 October One of One Tackling Concerns Nationally TBA n/a TBC Invitations have not yet been sent Group has yet to meet
We are proposing an event specifically for patient and public representatives in new year 2008 once all of the working groups have met. The purpose of the event will be to present the programme as a whole to representatives and to seek their feedback. This is in addition to the continuing involvement of patient and public representatives in the working groups and the National Advisory Group meeting. We are also planning to increase the number of public and patient representatives at the next National Advisory Group meeting.