Draft National Health Service (Integrated Care Boards: Exceptions to Core Responsibility) Regulations 2022

Karin Smyth Excerpts

Wednesday 15th June 2022 General Committees

[Karin Smyth (Bristol South) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Nokes.

The Minister and I first discussed the Health and Care Bill that became the 2022 Act in February last year. That Bill was finally introduced in July that year, so there was plenty of time to prepare it and to get us all lined up for it, and the NHS was already asking for legislation. We then spent six weeks in the Bill Committee, there were some delays, and the legislation spent extensive time in the Lords, et cetera. We now find ourselves back discussing consequentials. A simple tidying-up exercise for the health service does not mean that, does it? It means months and months of bureaucracy, time and effort for Clerks and so on, and changes to the law, while the system has to try to cope with it.

We support the regulations; I accept that they are consequential and do not actually change services for people. Will the Minister say how many many more consequential statutory instruments we are to expect as part of the tidying-up exercise? Given the largest waiting lists and waiting times the NHS is currently having to manage, it is important that system managers understand what is coming down the tracks. It is currently the middle of June and the regulations have to be in place for 1 July so that people have certainty about what they need to put in place. Patients also need to be assured that they will have a seamless service wherever in the United Kingdom they live, reside or visit friends and family. It would be helpful to have an idea of whether there will be similar consequentials, if the Minister can tell us this morning.

Other than that, we hope that the regulations will go through and make things easier, and that the NHS and the Government can get on with trying to improve the health service for the benefit of all our constituents.