Commentary on Sections Patient and public involvement Section 15: Establishment of Patients’ Forums
87.The NHS Plan set out the new arrangements for involving patients and the public, in the way the NHS is run.  Central to this are Patients’ Forums.  They will be independent bodies established for each PCT and NHS trust in England, with members drawn from voluntary sector organisations representing patients and/or carers and from individual patients.  Their main role will be to provide direct input from patients to NHS trusts and PCTs on the range and operation of local NHS services.  The members of Patients’ Forums will be appointed by CPPIH.
88.Section 15 requires the Secretary of State to establish a Patients’ Forum for each PCT and NHS trust in England and sets out their functions. These include monitoring and reviewing the services for which the trust is responsible, obtaining and reporting the views of patients and their carers to their trust, and making available to patients and carers advice and information about those services provided or arranged by the trust.
89.Subsection (2)(e) provides that in circumstances set out in regulations, the
Patients’ Forum can take on responsibility for arranging or providing services to assist patients. This could include Patient Advice and Liaison Services (“PALS”) where the trust PALS was proved not to be performing satisfactorily.
90.Subsection 2(f) provides that the Secretary of State may by regulations confer additional functions on Patients’ Forums.
91.Subsection (4) provides a Patients’ Forum with the right to refer matters of which it becomes aware in the course of exercising its functions to the relevant overview and scrutiny committee and/or to CPPIH where it feels this is appropriate.  Subsection (5) makes it clear that this does not restrict the power of a Patients’ Forum to make representations or referrals to any other persons or bodies as it thinks fit.
92.Subsection (8)(b) makes clear that the services to which a Patients’ Forum’s functions relate include those of a trust exercising health related functions of a Local Authority under arrangements with the Local Authority pursuant to section 31 of the Health Act (eg. social care services).