Clause 22
Greater London Authority Bill
2:15 pm
Martin Linton (PPS (Rt Hon Harriet Harman QC, Minister of State), Department for Constitutional Affairs; Battersea, Labour)
Does my hon. Friend agree that while the NHS is superbly equipped to carry out its job of providing health for the population, the structure has a democratic deficit? That is, the NHS is not so well equipped to carry out large reconfigurations that involve public consultation and taking account of the strong feelings that there might be in an area. Giving the Mayor an automatic right to be consulted on such cases would introduce a much-needed sense of political representation and accountability into a system that was never really designed so. My hon. Friend and I share a local hospital trust, which, while very good, does not have much experience of carrying out such large consultations.