Schedule 1 - Schedule 7a to be inserted in the

Part of Health (Wales) Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 12:30 pm on 10 December 2002.

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Photo of Nigel Evans Nigel Evans Shadow Secretary of State for Wales 12:30, 10 December 2002

Cynical with good cause. The nub of our amendment is that we wish to see the provision included in paragraph 1 of new schedule 7A. As my hon. Friend the Member for Epsom and Ewell said, we are placing an obligation on them to reinforce the provision under paragraph 1(a) that requires them to do their job by publishing an annual report, which the hon. Member for Cardiff, North says they do in any event. However, we must ensure that they can carry on doing that with the independence that we want them to have—even if the Assembly says that they should not—and, as the hon. Member for Brecon and Radnorshire says, even if they may be too busy and want to spend their money elsewhere. It is important to concentrate on areas where there are deficiencies and to give the patients' champion body the right to expose deficiencies where they exist; not as part of a blame culture, but to improve the quality of services in a particular CHC area.