Clause 34 - Provision of primary ophthalmic services
Health Bill
11:45 am
Caroline Flint (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Health), Department of Health; Don Valley, Labour)
I do not believe that there will be a huge additional cost, because we are simply widening the scope of contractors who can be part and parcel of provision locally. The provision therefore simply widens the pool of contractors. PCTs already contract with services locally to provide the facilities available on the NHS. All that we are doing in that respect is widening the pool and making opportunities through the local committee to have the sort of discussions that are currently held, but also opportunities to address local issues as and when they occur. Nothing in these proposals indicates additional costs of themselves. They are simply to deal with some of the anomalies in the system and make it clearer and more transparent so that everyone knows what they are dealing with.