EU: Healthcare

Lord Crisp Excerpts

Wednesday 11th January 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Crisp]

My Lords, I should like to raise three unrelated issues and ask three simple questions. The first builds on the issues raised by the noble Lord, Lord Kakkar, in his opening remarks and picked up by the noble Lord, Lord Walton, about the working time directive. I understand that the recent attempts to revise the directive have failed but that discussion is under way with what are called the EU “social partners”, which are essentially the trade unions and employers organisations. I ask a simple question: if those discussions raise it in this fashion, will the Government support the opt-out from the EU working time directive proposed by the surgeons, which would allow them to work up to 65 hours a week?

The second unrelated issue is that one of the unintended consequences of opening our doors to Europe in this way—very positive as that is—is that it has tended to exclude those from other parts of the world who have made such an enormous contribution to the UK, particularly those from Commonwealth countries. Will the Minister confirm that the Government will continue to support the international medical training schemes for people from the Commonwealth and beyond? Indeed, will he promote them further? At the moment they are not being picked up in any great numbers.

My third point picks up on the issue raised by the noble Lord, Lord Lexden, concerning the cross-border healthcare initiative. It seems to me from everything that I have read that it is very uncertain what the numbers will be in practice. Can the Minister let us know what the Government’s own assessment is of the likely impact of introducing that directive later this year or next year?