Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the requirements for (1) NHS Trust Boards, and (2) other NHS Boards, to hold their meetings in public.

National Health Service trust boards and all other NHS boards are required to hold their meetings in public. The Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 sets out the requirement for most NHS bodies to have their meetings in public. NHS foundation trusts and clinical commissioning groups are governed by the NHS Act 2006 (as amended by the Health & Social Care Act 2012), which sets out similar requirements for these bodies.

The public body may exclude the public from a meeting where publicity would be prejudicial to the public interest by reason of the confidential nature of the business of the body or for other special reasons as decided by board resolution.