Clause 13 - Code of practice relating to health care associated infections
Health Bill
1:45 pm
Steve Webb (Shadow Secretary of State for Health, Health; Northavon, Liberal Democrat)
The Minister's reply offers me some reassurance. When I asked about enforcement, however, she said that the first port of call is the commissioner. The implication is that in this consumerist model of health care, if one does not like a private sector hospital because one is worried about infections, one does not buy services from it. However, in the market-driven mania of the NHS these days, that is true of the NHS as well. If the power of the commissioner to shop around were all that was needed, we would not need the code in the first place. If there were a worry about infection at a particular hospital and the Minister said, ''Well, commissioners will just go somewhere else if they are not happy with the level of infection,'' that should be sufficient. However, it clearly is not sufficient in the case of the NHS, so I do not see why it should be sufficient in the case of the private sector.