Schedule 8 - Minor and consequential amendments
NHS Reform and Health Care Professions Bill
2:30 am
Mr John Hutton (Minister of State, Department of Health; Barrow and Furness, Labour)
Amendment No. 114 amends section 18 of the Health Act 1999 and amendment No. 258 amends section 11 of the Health and Social Care Act 2001.
Section 18 of the 2001 Act currently places health authorities under a duty to put and keep in place arrangements for the purpose of monitoring and improving the quality of health care which they provide to individuals. The amendment amends that duty in relation to strategic health authorities so that each authority will in future be under a duty to put and keep in place arrangements for monitoring and improving the quality of health care provided to individuals in their area, instead of, as at present, the health care which the authority provides to individuals. That duty will better reflect the primary role of strategic health authorities as strategic bodies rather than as providers of services.
In a nutshell, I hope that the Committee will find amendment No. 114 straightforward. Its purpose is to ensure that the duty of quality contained in the 1999 Act applies to strategic health authorities in a way that reflects their new responsibilities.
Amendment No. 258 amends section 11 of the Health and Social Care Act 2001. That section currently confers on each health authority, primary care trust and NHS trust a duty to make arrangements with the aim of involving patients and the public in the planning and decision-making processes of those bodies, in so far as they affect the operation of the health services for which that body is responsible. In relation to health authorities, that would cover both the hospital and community health services for which they are responsible and the family health services provided by practitioners in those areas. The amendment imposes on strategic health authorities all the consultation-related duties of section 11, in so far as the strategic health authorities are themselves responsible for health services, and gives the authorities a new power to direct both PCTs and NHS trusts on how they should carry out consultations on services for which they have responsibility. The amendment adds strategic health authorities to the list of bodies to which section 11 applies.
New subsection (5) provides the new direction-making power for strategic health authorities, the scope of which is defined in new subsection (4). New subsection (6) makes it the duty of PCTs and NHS trusts to comply with directions given by the strategic health authority.
The amendment imposes on strategic health authorities all the consultation-related duties of section 11 of the 2001 Act in case the authorities might be responsible for health services and gives them a new power to direct PCTs as well as NHS trusts on how they should carry out consultation on services.
It might be helpful if I explain a little more of the detail of amendment No. 258 because I understand that the Opposition are concerned about it. With resources and commissioning being handled in future by PCTs directly, strategic health authorities will not be responsible for such services in quite the same way, but they will be responsible for their overall performance management. It is our intention that strategic health authorities should be under a duty under section 11 in two respects. My explanation may be helpful to the hon. Member for West Chelmsford (Mr. Burns).
The first duty is broadly to oversee consultations carried out by PCTs and NHS trusts. That may, for example, include being able to require PCTs and trusts in their area to co-ordinate consultation on health service issues affecting the whole strategic health authority area. That is sensible. Secondly, and more generally, situations may arise in which the Secretary of State may wish to delegate certain strategic service functions to strategic health authorities. An example that arose previously was the public health function. In those circumstances, we would want strategic health authorities to be under a proper duty to consult local people.
That is what the amendments are designed to do. They do not change policy, but tidy up the Bill to ensure that those two provisions in earlier Acts properly reflect the new responsibilities of strategic health authorities. They will, as I hope the Committee now appreciates, take a step back from direct service provision, which is their current overall responsibility, to a more strategic approach.