Health Bill [HL]

Amendments 9 and 25 propose that the NHS Constitution and the handbook to the NHS Constitution be ““readily available”” to patients, staff and members of the public rather than ““available”” as the clause currently reads. Amendment 10 seeks to provide after Clause 3(1) that each of the bodies under a duty to have regard to the constitution should display the constitution, and that each of those bodies must be able to provide a copy of the handbook for reference. It is important to reassure the Committee that the constitution and the handbook will be readily available. As the Constitutional Advisory Forum pointed out in its role as the guardian of the constitution process, a critical success factor in ensuring that the constitution takes effect will be the approach taken to communicating its content. I have no doubt that when we assess the impact of the constitution we will know the impact of our communication strategy. Communication of the constitution will be a core priority, both locally and nationally. The department is working closely with the NHS in developing various means of communications to help the NHS to raise awareness and promote understanding of the constitution among staff, patients and the public. I assure noble Lords that we intend access to the constitution to be as broad as possible. We are devising several communication methods and producing the constitution in many alternative formats to spread the message. The constitution and the handbook are, of course, available on the internet but, for those who do not have access to computers, they will be available in hard copy. NHS bodies will also have access to hard copies of the constitution and will be supported by the Department of Health in promoting it locally. I can reassure the noble Baroness, Lady Tonge, that the constitution will be translated into other languages. It will be available in Braille, in large print and in audio, and the Government are finalising an easy-to-read guide which can be used by children and those with learning difficulties. All these documents will be widely available. The communication of the constitution will not be a prescriptive, top-down approach, as we have debated before; it will be for the local NHS organisations to determine the best place to display the constitution and the handbook. I have no doubt that PCTs, acting on behalf of their local populations, will find the constitution an extremely useful tool to help in sharing with the users of the service what their rights and responsibilities are. I hope that I have been able to clarify that it is not necessary to extend the communication of the constitution and the handbook from ““available”” to ““readily available””, but if I have not convinced the Committee I shall be happy to look at the matter again and come back to it on Report.