Background and Summary Part 1.Quality and Delivery of NHS Services in England Chapter 2 - Quality Accounts
15.High Quality Care for All said that from April 2010 all healthcare providers working for or on behalf of the NHS would be placed under a legal requirement to publish an annual Quality Account. Sections 8 and 9 of the Act therefore place a duty on those providers although section 8 also gives the Secretary of State a regulation-making power enabling the Secretary of State to exempt prescribed persons, or the providers of prescribed services, from this requirement.
16.The duty is to publish prescribed information about quality of services for the period 1 April to 31 March each year. Section 8 gives the Secretary of State a further regulation-making power, including power to determine the form, content and timetable for publication of a Quality Account.