Health and Social Care Bill

Debate between Lord Newton of Braintree and Lord Butler of Brockwell

Monday 28th November 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Butler of Brockwell]

My Lords, with the agreement of the noble Lord, Lord Newton, I move Amendment 109A, which stands in my name and his. I can do so briefly, although the amendment is important and, I hope, helpful. I declare an interest as the chair of King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. Part of the centre's mission is to accelerate the translation of research into patient care—getting a faster process from bench to bedside. It is in that capacity that I move the amendment.

The focus in the Bill on outcomes for patients is very welcome. It is also welcome that Clause 20 gives the Commissioning Board a duty to promote compliance with the quality standards prepared by NICE, as well as guidance published by the Secretary of State. There may be circumstances in which there are good local reasons why NHS providers should not comply with NICE guidelines. One such circumstance may be where there are innovative treatments that have been approved but with which NICE guidance has not yet caught up. We do not want the clause to stifle the introduction of such initiatives, which the creation of AHSCs is designed to promote and which are greatly in the interests of both British industry and patients. For this reason, Amendment 109A introduces an element of flexibility through a comply-or-explain regime. It will give providers the opportunity, in cases where there are good reasons why they should not comply with the NICE guidelines, to depart from them provided they can explain their non-compliance satisfactorily. That is all I need to say about the amendment. I beg to move.

[Lord Newton of Braintree]

My Lords, I chip in briefly in support of the amendment. I hasten to assure my noble friends on the Front Bench that this is a probing amendment and that I have no intention of pushing my luck. I have been so open and transparent as to share with the Minister every word of the briefing that I received and that led to the amendment. He knows what it is about. Therefore, I am looking for a measured, constructive and well informed response. I have no interests to declare except the public interest. The healthcare industry—the interests of which underlie the amendment—is important. It contains a lot of small and medium-sized enterprises of a potentially and actually very successful kind. We ought to encourage them, and I hope that the Minister will do his best.