NHS Commissioning Board (Mandate)

Steve Rotheram Excerpts

Tuesday 13th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I will happily look into the matter the hon. Lady raises, but my information is clear that the budget through which the clinical networks are funded is increasing.

[Steve Rotheram (Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)]

In priority 4—dementia—the Secretary of State states that the NHS Commissioning Board is mandated to ensure that the best treatment and care are available to everyone, wherever they live. Can he guarantee that there will be no postcode lottery, and that people with dementia in Liverpool will get the same treatment as the best in the rest of the country?

[Mr Hunt]

There is an element of postcode lottery now—there is a huge and unacceptable variation in treatment throughout the country—but the structures we are putting in place have a much better chance of reducing that variation than what went before, which failed to reduce it.