Responsible Officers – one size fits all, or does it?

The National Conference for Responsible Officers attracted 400 Responsible Officers (ROs), including the majority of those from the larger designated bodies in the independent sector. The plenary session included addresses from Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, National Medical Director NHS England; and Professor David Haslam, chair of NICE. I delivered a plenary message about Whole Practice Appraisal, namely that the independent sector must see NHS undertakings to compare with a consultants private undertakings, for example to confirm that they are practising within an appropriate scope of practice.