Clause 1 - English health authorities: change of name
NHS Reform and Health Care Professions Bill
12:15 pm
Mr John Hutton (Minister of State, Department of Health; Barrow and Furness, Labour)
The hon. Gentleman and I are both lawyers, so we are used to such arguments; it is our trade. The orders are not ready because they have not been drafted. Had they been drafted, they would have been shared with the Committee.
Returning to the substance of the amendment, we have had a wide-ranging debate about the nature of the proposals, their implications for the NHS and their relationship with PCTs, a point on which I agree with the hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire. It will be important for PCTs to get maximum managerial support as they take on their new roles and responsibilities. The Government have set out our intentions on many occasions. The national primary care development team, under Dr. Barbara Hakin—an outstandingly successful PCT chief executive in Bradford—is helping other chief executives and PCTs to take on their new responsibilities and address the significant challenges that they face.
The hon. Gentleman said that the RCN's description of these proposals was ``ambitious''; they are ambitious because we are ambitious for the NHS.