Clause 39
Health and Social Care Bill
1:15 pm
Ben Bradshaw (Minister of State (Health Services; Minister for the South West), Department of Health; Exeter, Labour)
Clause 39, as the hon. Gentleman has acknowledged, is intended to provide future flexibility so that the system can adapt to changes in the way in which health and social care are delivered. The delivery is becoming more integrated. It is responding to people’s needs, and it is changing as a result of innovation. It is possible that initially primary care will not come within its remit but, as more elective surgery is being delivered in the primary care setting, that change would require the flexibility that we are discussing.
It is also important to recognise that the power to modify the Bill after it is enacted does not apply to the registration of NHS bodies and other providers registered with the new commission from the outset as listed under clause 39(3). We have already made it clear that NHS hospital services would be regulated. Respondents to our consultation put forward convincing arguments for the inclusion of, for example, NHS primary care providers within the regulatory framework. The reason behind the provision is to provide the flexibility that we discussed the day before yesterday in relation to some cosmetic procedures. I do not want to rein in the future flexibility that might be needed.