Health Bill [HL]

I thank the Minister very much for that reply. It is worth bringing to mind that a year ago noble Lords—many of whom are here today—queued up in this Room to take part in the Government’s plans for the CQC. It was debated in great detail because there was concern that there would be an imbalance in the regulatory body as between health and social care. We may have been paranoid then and we may be now because we continue to be concerned about the extent to which health and social care are not equal partners on the ground. However, I do not think that we are paranoid. The Wanless report set out how important it is for the NHS to be fully engaged with social care planning systems so that the preventive agenda can be built up and the NHS does not become a body which stacks up acute needs for the future. That is the important point. I am intrigued by the idea of a social care constitution. I shall save my detailed views for when we come to debate the Green Paper but I think that it would be miraculous to draw up a constitution when there is no political or social agreement about what social care levels of entitlement are or how they should be funded. However, one should never rule out what one does not know. For the moment, I shall withdraw the amendment. However, if only one thing were to be prescribed as an output for this review process, it should be the NHS Constitution because it is of such fundamental importance to health, health promotion and the prevention of ill health. However, due to the lateness of the hour, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment 22 withdrawn.