Part of Health and Social Care Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 2:45 pm on 17 January 2008.
Ben Bradshaw
Minister of State (Regional Affairs) (South West), The Minister of State, Department of Health
2:45,
17 January 2008
I do not accept that there is lesser protection, but if the hon. Lady insists, I will read the reasons that I have been given by my officials. She can stop me at any time.
Under Clause 47 the commission will be obliged to inform Ministers in the Welsh Assembly if the commission encounters serious failings in the running of a Welsh NHS body or health care provided by a Welsh NHS body, or by someone else providing services commissioned by a Welsh NHS body. Although the new commission will only cover health and adult social care services in England, it may come across patients receiving health care in England that has been commissioned by the Welsh NHS. It may also need to review the care being provided by a Welsh NHS body under arrangements made by the NHS in England.
In those circumstances, it is clearly important that the commission is under a duty to advise Welsh Ministers of any failings it encounters either in the provision of health care or the running of services. Patients, of course, draw no distinctions about where they receive care and they expect any problems that are identified to be followed up and addressed regardless of which authority is responsible. The commission will be able to recommend any special measures that it considers appropriate to remedy the failure in question to Welsh Ministers.
Welsh Ministers will continue to be under a corresponding duty, under section 71 of the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003, to report failings in English NHS care to the Secretary of State. The proposed clause would require the commission to inform the Secretary of State where it considered that there were significant failings in English NHS bodies. It would also allow the commission to recommend certain measures that the Secretary of State should take where it judges that an English NHS body is failing in the provision of health care. While we have given the commission that role in relation to local authorities and their adult social service functions, in the NHS strategic health authorities in England are responsible for the performance management of primary care trusts and hold them to account.
NHS bodies in Wales will not be subject to registration in the same way as in England. The Care Quality Commission will have the role of publishing independent comparative information on the performance of commissioners. SHAs will then be expected to use that information as part of their performance management of PCTs and to address areas of weak performance. Local authorities, on the other hand, do not have an equivalent body overseeing their work and hence we have kept the provisions allowing the commission to recommend special measures with regard to them.
NHS providers will have to be registered with the commission and will have to comply with regulatory requirements. The commission will be able to intervene directly in poorly performing providers by taking appropriate enforcement action. The new commission will have the ultimate power to de-register. The ability to take direct action represents a significant increase in the regulator’s powers, with a provision allowing the Healthcare Commission to recommend special measures.
In the interests of a fair playing field, all providers should be subject to the same provision. The commission has both the power to intervene directly in a situation where an NHS body is failing and the power to advise the Secretary of State about any concerns it has. Given that, we do not believe that it is necessary to keep the rather weaker power that the commission be able to recommend that the Secretary of State take special measures with regard to the NHS. Therefore, the Amendment is not necessary.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care providers in England and it is responsible for developing and consulting on its methodology for assessing whether providers are meeting the registration requirements.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
As a bill passes through Parliament, MPs and peers may suggest amendments - or changes - which they believe will improve the quality of the legislation.
Many hundreds of amendments are proposed by members to major bills as they pass through committee stage, report stage and third reading in both Houses of Parliament.
In the end only a handful of amendments will be incorporated into any bill.
The Speaker - or the chairman in the case of standing committees - has the power to select which amendments should be debated.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
