Geoffrey Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Geoffrey Cox on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to improve public and patient involvement in the NHS.

Mr Philip Dunne

Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) is enshrined in S.242 of the National Health Service Act 2006. The Health and Social Care Act 2012 amended S.242 and included complementary duties for clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and NHS England.

Since the 2012 Act NHS England has published statutory guidance for NHS commissioners and revised guidance for CCGs will be published in spring 2017. A further guide on engaging communities, for areas developing Sustainability and Transformation Plans, was published by NHS England in September 2016. NHS England has also recently launched an Involvement Hub, an online resource to support patients, carers, staff and the public, which also includes examples of good practice and links to learning and involvement opportunities.