Schedule 1 - Schedule 7A to be inserted in the National Health Service Act 1977
Health (Wales) Bill
4:30 pm
Mr Chris Grayling (Epsom and Ewell, Conservative)
I welcome you back to the Chair, Mr. Griffiths. It is a gloomier evening than one might choose.
The amendment and new clause are designed to follow the theme that Opposition Members have pursued throughout the debate so far, which is to try to provide an appropriate balance between the interests of the Welsh Assembly and its role as manager of the Welsh national health service and the need for independent scrutiny of the performance of the Welsh NHS in the hands of communities and professionals and not just politicians. They are part of the jigsaw puzzle of various ideas that I described to the Minister this morning, which we proposed to reflect our concerns and to amend the Bill.
I know that the Minister will say that Opposition Members do not understand devolution or the need to push powers down to the Assembly. In fact, I understand perfectly well the principles of devolution and where it is right to give powers to the Assembly. The Bill grants powers to the Assembly entirely appropriately at many points, but as the debate unfolds, the Minister will understand that we are keen to ensure that there is a balance and that we do not simply hand over to the Assembly—lock, stock and barrel—the right to monitor the performance of the NHS in Wales.
Ultimately, the power to monitor should not be controlled by the same organisation that delivers the strategy and, to a significant degree, the overall management of the service. It is essential to maintain the genuine independence of the community health councils, which the amendment and new clause would ensure. I hope that the Minister will recognise that,
and consider the amendment and the new clause in the spirit in which they have been tabled.
Nominations for membership of CHCs come from three, and often four, separate groups: the local authority; voluntary organisations in the areas served by the CHC; the National Assembly; and, in some cases, co-optees, to represent different parts of the local community that do not fit the formula. That structure provides an excellent balance. It was set up by past legislation, and I can see no good reason why it should change. It may not be the National Assembly's intention to change it, but politicians have a habit of placing their cronies in organisations. All parties have been guilty of that to some degree, but despite its initial public statements, the Labour party has been especially bad in terms of placing people in jobs, especially in recent years. It is important to ensure that no process enables the Assembly simply to control the choice of people who sit on the CHCs. What we have already works.