Sir Gus O‟Donnell KCB

Cabinet Secretary
Cabinet Office
70 Whitehall
London
SW1A 2AS

08 April 2011

Dear Sir Gus

I am writing to you to ask you to investigate the event held at Frimley Park Hospital on
Wednesday 6 April 2011, at which the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minster and the
Health Secretary spoke, and the associated Government document published on the same day,
„Working together for a stronger NHS‟.

The Prime Minister was leading what was described as a “future forum” to “listen and
engage” with the public over the Government‟s NHS reorganisation plans and legislation. It
was reported that the main purpose of the Ministers‟ visit was to reassure the public over
widely-held fears that their plans will harm the NHS and to respond to widespread criticism
of the Government‟s handling of the reorganisation. The event gained a great deal of news
coverage across the country.

The NHS is highly and politically sensitive. It is therefore undeniably relevant to local
elections being held in England, especially as the Health and Social Care Bill contains a
number of far-reaching provisions that would change the role and responsibilities of local
authorities.

This event staged at Frimley Park Hospital raises serious questions about a breach of Cabinet
Office guidance on the use of Government resources and property during a pre-election
period.

In particular, paragraph 12 of the Cabinet Office guidance states: “In the pre-election periods,
particular care should be taken in respect of proposed visits to areas holding elections...
Official support must not be given to visits and events with a party political or campaigning
purpose.”

Department of Health guidance to Strategic Health Authorities and NHS Foundation Trusts is
also relevant and clear: “Special care should be taken in relation to proposed visits – if in
doubt it is best to avoid having councillors or other politicians undertake visits to NHS sites
during this period, unless the visit is clearly for government purposes rather than party
political ones.”

I am therefore writing to ask you to investigate and confirm: whether or not any Cabinet
Office rules or official guidance have been broken in the planning and staging of the event on
6 April, including what formal advice was sought by and provided to those responsible for
the event. In doing so, I would also ask you to consider the disgraceful way that nurses in
uniform and other NHS staff were used as stage dressing for the Prime Minister, Deputy
Prime Minister and Health Secretary to speak.

In addition to your inquiries into the Frimley Park Hospital event, I am also writing to ask
you to investigate whether or not the Civil Service Code has been breached by the
Government document „Working together for a stronger NHS‟, which was published
alongside the event.

In particular, paragraph 8 of the Civil Service Code states: “You must set out the facts and
relevant issues truthfully” and paragraph 9 asserts: “You must not deceive or knowingly
mislead Ministers, Parliament or others”.

This document contains a number of highly questionable passages, but I would draw your
attention to two in particular.

First, on page 9, the apparent factual assertion that “For years doctors and nurses have been
burdened by bureaucracy and crushed under the weight of top-down targets. This has been
bad for morale and terrible for patient care”. This is clearly and completely inconsistent with
recent established facts such as waiting times being the lowest since records began and
patient satisfaction at the highest ever levels. As you make your inquiries, I would be grateful
if you could establish and confirm the official facts on which these Government assertions
have been made.

Second, on page 1, the opening passage which asserts: “We love the NHS because it‟s there
when the people we love fall ill. Because it‟s there all the time. Because whoever you are,
wherever you‟re from, however much money you‟ve got in the bank, there‟s somewhere you
can go to get looked after. And because that says amazing things about our country. That‟s
why we love our NHS.” In making your inquiries into the document, I would be grateful if
you could establish and confirm who the “we” is supposed to be in this official Government
publication.

I would ask you to consider the synthetic sentimentalism which fall short of the standards that
official Government publications should meet.

I look forward to your response on all these points.

Yours sincerely

John Healey MP
Shadow Health Secretary