Clause 4 - Liability to make delayed discharge payments
Community Care (Delayed Discharge etc.) Bill
6:15 pm
Mr Nigel Waterson (Eastbourne, Conservative)
You are right to remind us of the incredible pressure put upon Committees these days by the Government's desire to put through ill-conceived legislation in a great hurry.
I have already said that there is a perverse incentive. The point was made in response to an intervention by the hon. Member for Leigh. It is likely that in most situations the funds that we are discussing would find their way back to the acute trust. In a sense, they are entirely paper transactions, but it is right to say that the PCTs should receive the money. I am talking not about people trundling wheelbarrows full of cash between different NHS institutions, but about money on paper. If the PCTs are to be the gatekeepers and to have control of the moneys, they can of course allocate them back to the acute trust in my area or to any
other, or for any purpose, but only in the interests of local people.
I happen to believe that PCTs are under-engineered for the massive responsibilities that have suddenly fallen on their shoulders. They have a wide range of responsibilities, and any complaint about any aspect of our NHS is likely to land on the desk of the local PCT. If the Government mean what they say about devolving power in the NHS to PCTs, the amendment tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for West Chelmsford is the solution as to how to deal with the funds.