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CQC 'to reveal NHS cover-up names' ministers say CQC 'to reveal NHS cover-up names' ministers say
(about 2 hours later)
England's NHS regulator will name some officials accused of covering up a failure to investigate deaths of babies at a Cumbria hospital, ministers say.England's NHS regulator will name some officials accused of covering up a failure to investigate deaths of babies at a Cumbria hospital, ministers say.
Pressure is mounting on the Care Quality Commission to name managers who apparently blocked publication of a critical report. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the move - which has yet to be confirmed by the Care Quality Commission - was pleasing.
The Information Commissioner said the Data Protection Act does not overide public interest in releasing the names. It comes after mounting pressure on the regulator to name managers who apparently blocked publication of a critical report.
The CQC said no decision had yet been formally reached. CQC managers are currently in a meeting discussing the issue.
However it has said it is exploring all legal means possible to see if names can be made public. Although ahead of that meeting, CQC chief executive David Behan said he was exploring all legal means possible to see if the names could be released.
Senior managers are currently meeting to discuss the issue. Mr Hunt said he was "very pleased".
However, Health Minister Lord Howe said those involved will be named. "I think this is a sign that the NHS is changing - because we've had a history of cover-ups going on many, many years and now what's happening is that when there was an issue the new management of the CQC immediately asked for an independent report.
Speaking in the House of Lords, he said his "understanding" was that the CQC would reveal the identities of some of the officials involved later on Thursday. "They published that report yesterday and now as I understand it they've got legal advice that says they can issue the names of the people mentioned in that report. And I think that's so important because there has to be accountability inside the NHS for people's actions and people have to know where the buck stops when something goes wrong."
However, the CQC said no official decision has yet been made. The alleged decision to block publication of the report emerged on Wednesday when the CQC published a report it had commissioned from consultants Grant Thornton.
Before the meeting, CQC chief executive David Behan confirmed he was reviewing legal advice not to reveal the names of those involved. The firm was asked by the health regulator to investigate its failure to spot the problems at Furness General Hospital, run by the Morecambe Bay NHS Trust.
It follows growing pressure to publicly name those involved. In 2010 it gave the hospital a clean bill of health despite problems emerging about the maternity unit.
Information Commissioner Christopher Graham told the BBC that senior managers could not "hide behind the Data Protection Act". More than 30 families have now taken legal action against the hospital in relation to baby and maternal deaths and injuries from 2008.
'Deliberate cover-up' Grant Thornton found that in 2011 an internal review was ordered into how the problems had gone unnoticed.
More than 30 families have taken legal action against the hospital in relation to baby and maternal deaths and injuries from 2008. But in March 2012 it was decided the findings should not be made public because the review was highly critical of the regulator.
Consultants Grant Thornton were asked by the health regulator to investigate its own failure to spot the problems: in 2010, Morecambe Bay NHS Trust, which ran the hospital, had been given a clean bill of health.
Grant Thornton found that, a year after this, with more concerns emerging, an internal review had been ordered into how the problems had gone unnoticed.
In March 2012 it was decided the findings should not be made public because the review was highly critical of the regulator.
That order is said to have come from a senior manager who has not been named and who denies the allegations.That order is said to have come from a senior manager who has not been named and who denies the allegations.
The latest report said this "might well have constituted a deliberate cover-up". The Grant Thornton report said this "might well have constituted a deliberate cover-up".
On Wednesday, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said that was "completely unacceptable" and that there should be "no anonymity, no hiding place, no opportunity to get off Scot-free for anyone at all who was responsible for this". 'Good faith'
Information Commissioner Mr Graham told BBC Breakfast: "What appeared to be going on yesterday was a sort of general duck-out saying 'oh, data protection, sorry can't help you' - that's all too common and in this case it certainly looked as if data protection really wasn't the issue." The CQC though removed the names of those involved, arguing it would be a breach of the Data Protection Act.
But this was then rejected by Information Commissioner Christopher Graham.
He said: "What appeared to be going on yesterday was a sort of general duck-out saying, 'Oh, data protection, sorry can't help you,' that's all too common and in this case it certainly looked as if data protection really wasn't the issue."
He said he could not order the CQC to reverse its decision but said he was glad it was looking at the issue.He said he could not order the CQC to reverse its decision but said he was glad it was looking at the issue.
"So far as the Data Protection Act is concerned, we all have a right to the protection of our personal privacy but if you are a senior official then there are issues about the point at which your privacy is set aside because of over-riding public interest. That's really the issue at stake here," he said."So far as the Data Protection Act is concerned, we all have a right to the protection of our personal privacy but if you are a senior official then there are issues about the point at which your privacy is set aside because of over-riding public interest. That's really the issue at stake here," he said.
'Good faith' Mr Behan said he had been advised that "to put people's personal data [into the report] would be a breach of their rights".
Its chief executive, Mr Behan, said he had been advised that "to put people's personal data [into the report] would be a breach of their rights".
"I was acting on the legal advice I was given, I acted in good faith," he told Newsnight."I was acting on the legal advice I was given, I acted in good faith," he told Newsnight.
He said he had "listened to what the information commissioner has said".He said he had "listened to what the information commissioner has said".
He added: "We've decided today that we will review that legal advice and we've commissioned a review of that legal advice to see if we can put this information into the public domain."He added: "We've decided today that we will review that legal advice and we've commissioned a review of that legal advice to see if we can put this information into the public domain."
In a statement to the House of Commons on Wednesday, Jeremy Hunt said the CQC was already introducing a tougher inspection regime and had just appointed a chief inspector of hospitals.
He added: "What happened at Morecambe Bay is, above, all a terrible personal tragedy for all the families involved.
"I want to apologise on behalf of the government and the NHS for all the appalling suffering they have endured."
The CQC has said it is "desperately sorry this has happened" and said publication "draws a line in the sand for us".
The publication of Wednesday's report comes four months after a public inquiry into the failings at another hospital - Stafford - criticised the culture of the NHS as more concerned with protecting "corporate self-interest" than patient care.
Mr Hunt told MPs the government was introducing measures to make the NHS more transparent, including a duty of candour to compel the health service to be open and honest about mistakes.