Health Bill [HL]

The spirit of the amendment is important, but there is a danger here that patients might be made to feel guilty that they are incurring high drug costs. It would be important for staff always to be aware of the true cost of equipment, the drugs they prescribe, admissions and so on, as staff in the NHS are often not truly aware of the costs that they incur with the things that they do. Sometimes they open packs and chuck them away or are not careful with them, or they use one type of equipment that is a lot more expensive than another. The spirit behind the amendment is to be commended, although I have a feeling that it is not quite right in the way that it is put together and there could be a downside. However, perhaps we need much more open and transparent pricing across the whole of the NHS for both staff and patients.