Health Bill [HL]

I shall be equally brief and support the contribution of the two previous speakers. Perhaps I may slightly rephrase the amendment so that we can perhaps more easily understand what the noble Earl is driving at. The amendment states: "““The Secretary of State shall publish guidance on the manner in which bodies and persons””," and so on. What the noble Earl is really saying is that central government shall publish guidance on the manner in which hospitals demonstrate that they have regard to the NHS Constitution. He is asking for a sort of bureaucratic, centralist determination of the policies to be pursued by hospital trusts to demonstrate the way that they apply the constitution. That is almost the very reverse of the devolution that we are seeking to introduce in the National Health Service. I cannot believe that that is what the noble Earl really believes.