The Secretary of State for Health issued directions which came into force on 1st April 2010, outlining the NHS Duty to Report on consultation about commissioning decisions (NHS Act 2006 under section 17A for SHAs and section 24A for PCTs).  This followed legislation on the duty to inform, consult and involve when planning changes or introducing new services which came into effect in April 2009.

Under this guidance we have a duty to report on any consultation that influences:

• commissioning decisions and decisions taken following a consultation;
• how the views of the people we engaged with were taken into account when the decision was made;
• how feedback influenced the decision taken – whether anything was commissioned differently as a result of the feedback received;
• and the main issues where it was not possible to act, and the reasons why.