Part of Health and Social Care (Re-Committed) Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 4:00 pm on 14 July 2011.
The hon. Gentleman gets the prize for being able to bring mergers and acquisitions back into the discussion by referencing clauses 71 and 72. I congratulate him on his perspicacity. Let us return to the clause in front of us and what the amendment is about, which is how we ensure in one way—it is not exclusive—that the work of local healthwatches is seen as important in the local system. That goes back to the point that was made by Jeremy Taylor when we received evidence at the start of the Committee stage, which is that the legislation and the amendments are certainly essential, but they are not sufficient. That is why we have a pathfinder programme, and that is why we have a collaborative process to roll out both HealthWatch England and local healthwatch. We are working with existing stakeholders from LINks, with local authority colleagues and with all those who have an interest in getting right the design of this important vehicle for delivering patient voices into the system. It cannot, as the hon. Member for Islington South and Finsbury quite rightly said, simply be a matter for legislation. It must be about attitudes and culture. We have quite a lot of work to do to undo the damage that has been done by the constant changes that occurred over the past 13 years.
I therefore hope that, with the changes and amendments, we can secure a patient involvement mechanism, through HealthWatch and local healthwatch, that is effective at delivering what patients and carers need.