Parliament gives 'zero harm' bill financial backing

In a clear signal of the government’s support for the Health and Social Care (Safety and Quality) Bill, the minister for life sciences George Freeman has this week asked MPs to approve what is known as a money resolution on the bill.

While the private members bill is being driven through Parliament by Stafford MP Jeremy Lefroy, it is being backed by both the government and Labour.

The government whips office has taken over control of the bill’s timetable and it has already had a first and second reading in the House of Commons.

A money resolution is required for any new bill introduced in parliament which would lead to an increase in public spending.

The resolution, approved on Tuesday, clears the way for the bill to move through to committee stage next month.

Mr Freeman told MPs: “I pay tribute to my honourable friend the member for Stafford for his tireless work on this bill, particularly for his championing of the cause of information sharing, which sits right at the heart of the government’s commitment to transparency in healthcare.”

The proposed bill would place a duty on the health secretary for the first time to ensure no avoidable harm is caused to patients in the NHS.

It also aims to require professional regulators such as the Nursing and Midwifery Council to consider public confidence separately to an individual’s fitness to practise when deciding if they should remain on professional registers.

It also includes measure to increase the sharing of information between organisations and use a common patient identifier such as the NHS number across health and social care.

Conservative MP Mr Lefroy said the bill would seek to stop poor care such as patients left without adequate food or drink, patients being left unsupported in accident and emergency for long periods, poor records resulting in drug errors, and neglect as a result of understaffing.