A proposed new law on patient safety would open the door to tougher regulation of health and care providers by the Care Quality Commission, legal experts have told HSJ.

The Health and Social Care (Safety and Quality) Bill is a private members bill put forward by Stafford Conservative MP Jeremy Lefroy in response to the poor care at Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust. It has moved closer to becoming law after being passed in the Commons last month.

Stafford Hospital

The new patient safety law is in response to poor care at Mid Staffordshire FT

The bill, sometimes referred to as the “zero harm bill”, imposes a duty on the health secretary to introduce regulations “to secure that services provided in the carrying on of regulated activities cause no avoidable harm”. This harm could be caused directly or indirectly, but excludes harm that cannot be “reasonably avoided”.

Providers would need to take steps to ensure they did not cause avoidable harm to patients.

The Department of Health and the CQC confirmed to HSJ that the regulator would be responsible for ensuring compliance if the bill becomes law, although they did not say what this would entail.

Patient safety expert and partner at law firm DAC Beachcroft Corinne Slingo told HSJ the law would require a change to the CQC’s powers. She said: “The primary mechanism created with this bill is an obligation on the health secretary. If this is created, they would have to create regulations to achieve that, the method by which that would occur would be via the CQC amending its existing regulations [so that they] expressly dealt with the avoidable harm point.

“Practically, this would mean the CQC could start digging around into serious incidents and find out whether the root cause was avoidable harm and deal with that as a direct regulatory compliance issue.”

However, the DH believes the set of “fundamental standards” that are already agreed, and will be enforced by the CQC from April under existing regulations, will meet the requirements of the bill’s proposals.

The bill is scheduled to have its second debate in the Lords next month and is being sponsored by former president of the Royal College of Surgeons Lord Ribeiro. It is supported by the coalition government and Labour.

Sources close to the parliamentary process told HSJ the bill had an “85 per cent chance” of becoming law as long as no significant opposition emerged. HSJ understands that while the British Medical Association has concerns over elements of the bill, it is not seeking to hamper its passage through the Lords.

Mr Lefroy told HSJ: “No conversation I have had has made me think anyone is out to scupper the bill.”

He said the law on zero harm would serve to “concentrate the minds of all providers of health and social care”. He added: “If a provider was paying lip service to this law the CQC could ultimately withdraw their registration. Trusts will get the message loud and clear from this bill that they don’t have wriggle room over this; there are standards beyond which they cannot go.”

When the bill was passed by the Commons Conservative Jacob Rees-Mogg told MPs: “The bill will ensure the primary duty of not doing harm to patients is established in law. It is extraordinary that it was not there before.”

Labour MP Jamie Reed said the bill would give a “wide ranging power” to the health secretary but said Labour would support it.

The bill also includes new rules for professional regulators such as the Nursing and Midwifery Council to consider public confidence and places a duty on organisations to share patient information across health and social care to support integration of services.

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