Clause 45 - Care Trusts where voluntarypartnership arrangements
Health and Social Care Bill
10:30 am
Mr Paul Burstow (Sutton and Cheam, Liberal Democrat)
I apologise to the Minister for interrupting his flow. He is making an important point, which addresses a concern that is shared by many outside the House about how care trusts will work in practice and his assurances are most helpful. Has he considered the recent research evidence on the experience of integration—albeit on a different structure—in Northern Ireland, which revealed concerns that placing social care in the context of a health body has lead to a domination of the medical model over the social model? The LGA cited that evidence. Has the Minister had a chance to consider it? If he has, does he accept it, and if so, what guidance will be made available to ensure that the pitfalls of the system in Northern Ireland are avoided in the United Kingdom?