Health and Social Care Bill (Programme) (No. 3)

In considering these amendments, it is important to refer to the individual functions of Monitor envisaged in the amended Bill and test them against the assertions that have been made, throughout the passage of the Bill, about what Monitor is there for. We must also test them against the Future Forum's recommendations about how the role of Monitor should be clarified in order to remove these misunderstandings. First—I warmly welcome this—it is made clear in the Bill as amended and the supporting documentation from the Department that although the Government intend to continue, as did their predecessor, to encourage the conversion of NHS trusts to foundation trusts, there will be no reduction in the standards required to qualify for the status of foundation trust. The registration principles established by Monitor, which are broadly welcomed throughout the health service, are intended to justify the independence that comes with foundation trust status. Those standards will continue as a gold standard under the new NHS, and achieving them, rather than meeting some artificial deadline, is the key determinant of whether a trust achieves foundation trust status. I welcome the fact that the Government have made that clear. It responds to a specific recommendation by the Future Forum, and it is exactly right. Secondly, the Future Forum also envisaged that the role of Monitor should not come to an end on the day that a trust achieves foundation trust status. There should continue to be, on behalf of the taxpayer and of patients, an oversight role to ensure that organisations that have achieved foundation trust status continue to meet those standards and to deliver the quality of care required by patients and commissioners. That is now set out clearly in the Government's supporting paperwork. It is part of the role of Monitor, and I welcome the fact that—having established that there will be no diminution of standards in the achievement of foundation trust status—it will have continuing oversight to ensure that those standards continue to be met. The third point that was highlighted by the Future Forum—once again, it was accepted by the Government in these amendments—is the need to ensure that not only will there be continuing oversight of the achievement of those standards by foundation trusts, but Monitor will have the power to intervene if a threat emerges to the achievement of those standards by a foundation trust. Patients can be confident not only that there will be oversight, but that Monitor—on behalf of the taxpayer and of patients—has the capacity to intervene to ensure that action is taken if management in post at a foundation trust is not delivering the standards required.