Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department provides hospitals on involving the police in investigations related to patient harm.

NHS England’s Serious Incident Framework sets out the key principles of serious incident management and defines the roles and responsibilities of those involved in the management of serious incidents, including the police and those providing National Health Service healthcare services.

The Department’s ‘Memorandum of understanding: investigating patient safety incidents involving unexpected death or serious untoward harm’, published in 2006, also provides a source for reference where a serious incident occurs in a healthcare setting and an investigation is also required by the police, the Health and Safety Executive and/or the coroner. The NHS, the Association of Chief Police Officers (now the National Police Chiefs' Council) and the Health and Safety Executive are party to this agreement.