Clause 18 - Supplementary
NHS Reform & Health Care Professions Bill
3:30 pm
Ms Hazel Blears (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (public health), Department of Health; Salford, Labour)
I will come to that point. The Government certainly intend that the right of referral on contested reconfigurations, or on matters that were previously the subject of referrals, should continue. A better system of public and patient involvement will enable people to get involved at the outset when options are being developed. Given that there will be greater opportunity to shape proposals when they are first considered, I hope that we might see fewer contested matters. In my experience, giving people the opportunity to get involved at the beginning of a process sometimes minimises the matters that remain subject to dispute.
None the less, I should make it absolutely clear that the right of referral must exist in the system. If matters are contested and there is a great dispute in the community, a democratically elected body—the overview and scrutiny committee—must have the power to decide that it is right and proper that they be referred.