Clause 178 - Healthwatch England

Part of Health and Social Care (Re-Committed) Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 2:15 pm on 14 July 2011.

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Photo of Liz Kendall Liz Kendall Shadow Minister (Health) 2:15, 14 July 2011

It is funny the Minister says that, because my first overall concern about the establishment of HealthWatch England is that the Government are being unambitious about putting patients and the public at the heart of the NHS and giving them a stronger and more powerful voice. As ever, Opposition Members are the real modernisers and reformers. We are the ones on the side of patients and the public. If we were in government, we would have had a far stronger and more independent HealthWatch England.

That reminds me that during the previous Committee scrutiny, the Minister of State, the right hon. Member for Chelmsford and discussed several times whether HealthWatch England was independent. I questioned him on whether it was right that HealthWatch England should be a sub-committee of the Care Quality Commission.