Parliamentary briefing: Lord’s Committee Stage of the Health Bill

The Health Bill, introduced to Parliament on the 14 May, is focused on restructuring the national architecture of the NHS through the abolition of NHS England and the transfer of its functions to the Secretary of State and DHSC, reforming the governance of integrated care boards (ICBs) and foundation trusts (FTs), enabling the Single Patient Record (SPR), and abolishing Healthwatch[1].

The NHS Alliance supports the government's ambition to streamline NHS structures, empower local systems, and deliver the transformation required to achieve the ambitions of the 10-Year Health Plan. However, we believe there are important improvements that can be made to ensure the Bill delivers on protecting local autonomy to make decisions in the best interests of patients, preserving patient voice, and providing the right safeguards on ministerial powers. In doing so, we also seek to future-proof the legislation. Effective safeguards should be built into the statutory framework itself, rather than depend on the restraint and good judgement of the Secretary of State of the day. As currently drafted, the Bill leaves too much resting on how exceptionally broad powers are exercised by individual officeholders.

This briefing provides an analysis of key themes in the amendments tabled to the Bill ahead of the start of its Committee Stage. If you have any questions or would like to discuss this briefing further, please contact our public affairs team.