Written evidence to be reported to the House
Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill
4:30 pm
Sally Brearley: I can perhaps give you a comparable figure, but it dates back to 2000. A previous chief officer of a community health council in north-west London told me that the CHC budget, which would have covered a London borough, was approximately £130,000. That included the office, three staff and member expenses. Those are the figures for 2000. We are now talking about extending the provision to social care and for 2007 or 2008, so my feeling is that it would have to be significantly more. One of the worrying things about the proposals is that we are not told what the budget will be to support LINKs. We understand that it depends on the comprehensive spending review, and perhaps we cannot know the exact figure, but it would be useful to have an indicative figure.
We must not forget section 11, which I believe is now section 242 under the National Health Service Act 2006 and places an obligation on the NHS to consult patients and the public. We do not want LINKs to duplicate that. The PCT patients forum has a duty to monitor the NHS’s performance of section 11. That is another way in which patients forums ensure that the NHS actively involves its users. It is quite right, of course, that they do.