Clause 3 - Functions of the Centre
Health (Wales) Bill
5:45 pm
Mr Chris Grayling (Epsom and Ewell, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 3, in
clause 3, page 2, line 24, at end insert—
'Provided that it shall be obliged to coordinate those activities with those carried out by similar bodies elsewhere in the United Kingdom.'.
I view the amendment and the principles in it as perhaps the most important for the Bill. It seeks to enshrine in the Bill a duty of co-operation across borders in the United Kingdom. It is designed to be commonsensical and constructive, and in no way to remove rights and powers from the Wales Centre for Health, but to ensure that it works in partnership, for the good of the United Kingdom, rather than in isolation from the United Kingdom. I say that with genuine passion because, despite all the processes of devolution that have taken place, we are one nation. In all parts of our country, we share issues, in particular health issues. I simply do not believe that there is one single health issue that applies to Wales alone; certainly not the issues that, one could argue, have a significant impact in the Welsh community.
The hon. Member for Vale of Glamorgan (Mr. Smith) intervened on me on Second Reading to refer to his proper concerns about deep vein thrombosis and about the experience of that unfortunate condition in Wales. As I pointed out to him, however, it is not an exclusively Welsh issue. Wales is undoubtedly affected by other issues. Former coalminers face problems after many years in the pits, but so do former coalminers in other parts of the country. The young generation faces health and well-being issues, but those, too, are shared by other parts of the country.
We do not have a Welsh health service or an English health service; we have a national health service, as is right and proper. It is right that we make the best use of the resources available to us as a nation and that we do not commit resources unnecessarily to duplicating effort. At the same time, we must recognise that the localisation of health education and of some aspects of research may meet some local community needs.
It is fundamentally important that the Bill enshrines a spirit of co-operation, without detracting from the Welshness of certain services. As I told the hon. Member for Monmouth in the previous debate, health issues cross boundaries.