Lord Walton of Detchant
Main Page: Lord Walton of Detchant (Crossbench - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Walton of Detchant's debates with the Department of Health and Social Care
(14 years, 7 months ago)
Lords ChamberMy Lords, on an instinctive level, I completely understand the noble Lord’s concerns and I can tell him that the department has looked very carefully at this whole issue. The worry, based on research, is that labelling medicines with prices has a much more complex impact on patients’ attitudes towards their medicines than one might expect. A high or a low price on a medicine could lead to a patient doing the opposite of what one wants in terms of taking medication appropriately. Therefore, I am afraid that we have reached the conclusion that this is not something that should be pursued at the moment.
Does the Minister accept that for some years the National Health Service has been beset by the activities of an intolerable quangocracy? In fact, no fewer than 50 organisations have the right to inspect and assess the performance of health service bodies. In their proposed bonfire of the quangos, will the Government look first at whether it is necessary to continue with the mechanism of looking over the activities of the individual regulatory authorities? Is it necessary to continue with that supervisory body or with, for example, the National Clinical Assessment Authority? Have not these two bodies probably outlived their usefulness?
My Lords, I am very much in tune with the noble Lord’s general theme. As I said in the House last week, it has to make sense for us to look at each and every arm’s-length body. We need to consider what it does and what it was designed to do, decide how critical those functions are and how well they are fulfilled and then decide whether we can achieve better value for money by doing things differently. I do not want to promise the noble Lord a bonfire, as I have not yet taken any decisions, but I assure him that I will be rigorous in my approach to this whole exercise.