Health and Social Care Bill — Report (3rd Day) (Continued)

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 10:00 pm on 27 February 2012.

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Photo of Baroness Finlay of Llandaff Baroness Finlay of Llandaff Crossbench 10:00, 27 February 2012

I am most grateful to the Minister and to everyone who has spoken in this debate. There has been widespread support around the House for this group of amendments. The Minister's comments on NICE were reassuring and very helpful. We will be returning to less common conditions in relation to clinical commissioning groups, but I feel that we have teased out the very difficult dilemma of the duties that sit with the Commissioning Board versus those that sit with the local clinical commissioning group and how that division and integration work.

Again, in terms of emergency care, the Minister has made very many helpful comments. However, I do have some concerns that I would like to consult on. It would be really helpful if he would meet me and some people from emergency medicine. The College of Emergency Medicine has been trying very hard to work with the Government to make sure that this Bill actually does enhance and does not damage inadvertently the improvements in emergency care that it has been driving across the country very fast over recent years. A meeting would be most helpful. Pending such a meeting, I will withdraw the amendment for the moment, but we may need to come back to some of this at Third Reading, so I would like to reserve that. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.

Amendment 50A withdrawn.

Amendment 51 had been withdrawn from the Marshalled List.

Amendment 52 not moved.

Amendments 53 and 54

Moved by Earl Howe

53: Clause 22, page 18, line 17, leave out from "must" to end of line 18 and insert "have regard to the desirability of securing, so far as consistent with the interests of the health service-"

54: Clause 22, page 18, line 23, at end insert-

"( ) If, in the case of any exercise of functions, the Board considers that there is a conflict between the matters mentioned in subsection (1) and the discharge by the Board of its duties under sections 1(1) and 1G(3)(b), the Board must give priority to those duties."

Amendments 53 and 54 agreed.

Amendment 55 not moved.

Amendment 56

Moved by Earl Howe

56: Clause 22, page 18, line 34, leave out from "decisions" to end of line and insert "which relate to-

(a) the prevention or diagnosis of illness in the patients, or

(b) their care or treatment."

Amendment 56 agreed.

Amendment 57

Moved by Baroness Finlay of Llandaff

57: Clause 22, page 18, line 39, at end insert-

"( ) The National Commissioning Board must have regard to advice from a range of healthcare practitioners from across the patient pathway, including local clinical specialists and allied health professionals."