Clause 1 - NHS foundation trusts

Part of Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 10:45 am on 13 May 2003.

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Photo of John Hutton John Hutton Minister of State, Department of Health, Minister of State (Department of Health) (Health) 10:45, 13 May 2003

I understand the point that my hon. Friend is making. However, although the provision appears later in the Bill, clause 1 and clause 14 are connected intimately, and it is simply a fact that, when preparing a Bill, not everything can be included in clause 1. That the provision is contained in clause 14 does not in any way affect my argument.

We have worded the Bill carefully to make it clear that NHS foundation trusts based in England—and we all know the history and argument behind that—can still treat patients from Wales. The extent to which that happens will be determined by the commissioning arrangements entered into with Welsh NHS bodies and, in the case of the border between England and Scotland, the arrangements between English NHS foundation trusts and Scottish commissioning bodies. Nothing in the Bill would preclude the hospitals to which my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff, Central referred from treating Welsh patients, as they do at present.