Clause 14 - Abolition of community health councils in england
Health and Social Care Bill
11:00 am
Dr Liam Fox (Woodspring, Conservative)
If I may, I will return to the abolition of CHCs. I recognise that a raw nerve has been touched.
We have six tests to apply. There has been no consultation, and costing has not been carried out properly. The abolition will lead to fragmentation of services, loss of staff and increased costing, so is it workable? We do not sufficiently understand the accountability and independence of future mechanisms. The new proposals fail all such measures.
The group to be abolished has given sterling service to the NHS. Many people may become unemployed who have been extremely loyal to the task, for remuneration that has not been fantastic. The Government have failed to make the case for the changes, and have failed to consult about them in advance. We suspect that the changes are being made up as they go along, and that information is being given to those outside before it is given to the Committee.
The Minister has a great task, as he has to reassure the Committee, and through it those who pay attention to our deliberations, that the Government are not simply trying to gag the NHS and to ensure that patients are less able to get headlines that the Government hate into newspapers. We are losing a valuable resource, which even the Minister tells us works well in many parts of the country.
Our argument should be about raising standards to the best. Sadly, it has become about an entirely different Government agenda: one of putting the political process first and putting politics before patients.