Health and Social Care Bill

Lord Rix Excerpts

Monday 7th November 2011 Lords Chamber

Moved by

[Lord Rix]

13: Clause 2, page 2, line 16, at end insert—
“(c) the promotion and improvement of the health of all disabled people, including those with co-morbidities”

[Lord Rix]

My Lords, five of the—

[Baroness Anelay of St Johns]

My Lords, I take this opportunity again to remind colleagues that as they are leaving the Chamber they should, in courtesy, not walk in front of the noble Lord, Lord Rix, as they are doing at the moment, but should leave by the other exit. It is considered discourteous to interrupt a speaker.

[Lord Rix]

Thank you. Five of the six amendments that I have tabled to the Bill have been grouped together. I welcome the opportunity to raise some specific concerns about the Government’s health reforms in relation to learning disability. I should also like to thank the Minister, who recently met the noble Lord, Lord Wigley, the noble Baroness, Lady Hollins, and me, along with representatives from the Royal Mencap Society, of which I am president, to discuss our concerns in more detail.

As I made clear during my contribution at Second Reading, people with learning disabilities already have worse health outcomes than the rest of the general population. Mencap’s 2007 report, Death by Indifference, highlighted the neglect that was faced by six people who were treated in the NHS, leading to their deaths, which were entirely avoidable. Since then, many parents have approached Mencap to recount the indifference, prejudice and ignorance that is displayed towards people with a learning disability when being treated by the NHS. The purpose of the various amendments that I have tabled to the Bill is to address this problem.

First, Amendment 13 would ensure that the Secretary of State for Health has a clear duty to improve the quality of services for people with a disability. This is a prerequisite if the health inequalities to which I have previously referred are to be reduced and entirely removed as soon as possible. We hear a great deal from the Government about the importance of local decision-making, empowering patients and more opportunities for clinicians to make their input. In principle, I do not object to these intentions but they must not be at the cost of removing the accountability of the Secretary of State. By placing a duty on the Secretary of State to improve the quality of services for disabled people, I hope greater priority will be given in government to making this happen and seeing improvements on the ground.

My second amendment, Amendment 81, aims to ensure that health services for those with the most complex needs are commissioned by the NHS Commissioning Board. I am concerned that, since the numbers of those with the most complex needs, particularly those with profound and multiple learning disabilities, are likely to be relatively small, clinical commissioning groups may not commission those services that are deemed to be insignificant. We already know that the commissioning of services for people with complex needs by primary care trusts has been patchy. It is questionable whether commissioning led by clinical commissioning groups alone will lead to any great improvement on this issue. My amendment would ensure that the NHS Commissioning Board has oversight in this area, including the co-ordination and commissioning of services and facilities for this very specialist group of disabled people.

The third amendment tabled in my name, Amendment 117, concerns the importance of collecting data on the experiences and outcomes of all patients in the NHS. Where a patient has a disability, it would also ensure a breakdown of disability by impairment type. This will provide a bank of information that could be disseminated and used to inform future NHS decision-making to ensure that it accurately reflects the expectations of those it seeks to serve. It would also help to ensure that clinical commissioning groups, the NHS Commissioning Board and the Secretary of State are more accountable for their decisions and better placed to improve such decisions. Without the collection of this data, including the impairment type for disability, it will be difficult accurately to assess what is happening to people with a learning disability and other disabled people within NHS treatment.

--- Later in debate ---

[Earl Howe]

I can reassure the noble Earl that the clinical advisory group is taking and welcomes expert advice from all quarters. It is taking its time to get this right. It is too soon to announce any conclusions from its work, but I have no doubt in my mind that the noble Earl’s concerns will be addressed fully.

[Lord Rix]

My Lords, after that long, complex reply from the Minister, I shall have to read Hansard from top to bottom tomorrow. He referred to many Acts, which have yet to prove their efficacy in some instances, and to all manner of directives, which I could not write down and take note of at this moment. However, I thank him for his comprehensive response. When I read Hansard, I hope that it will prove to be more than helpful.

I also thank my noble friend Lord Listowel, and my noble friend Lady Hollins, whose expert opinions and advice are both personal and professional. I should also like to say, possibly at great risk because I am surrounded by doctors and nurses, that I fear that it is only people such as my noble friend Lady Hollins who have really worked at learning disability and that students who come out of St George’s know more about learning disability than perhaps many other medical students and young doctors who come out of other medical schools. Therefore, if clinicians are to be made to guide the commissioning boards et cetera on the work that has to be done for learning and disabled people, I have to say that I fear that some clinicians are rather short of experience in this area. I say this with due deference to my noble friends who are all around me at the moment and I hope that they will not clobber me when I get into the tea room after the next amendment.

I also thank the noble Lords, Lord Beecham and Lord Newton. I was very glad to have support from both sides of the House. The noble Lord, Lord Newton, and I have discussed learning disability for many years. I was very glad to hear from the noble Lord, Lord Beecham, who is new to me, and to have his support. Without further ado, I look forward to reading Hansard tomorrow and to consulting my colleagues, my noble friends Lady Hollins and Lord Wigley, and all the people at Mencap and other devoted charities. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.

Amendment 13 withdrawn.