I should say at this point that I was grateful for the opportunity to talk to my right hon. Friend about this subject a week or two ago, and I suspect that our conversations will continue.
I want to cover the rest of this group of amendments. Lords amendment 57 would exclude statutory functions of NHS Digital from the transfer of powers in the Bill. I urge the House to reject that amendment. I have assured Members of this House and in the other place that the proposed transfer of functions of NHS Digital to NHS England would not in any way weaken the safeguards we have in place for the safe and appropriate use of patient data. NHS Digital’s current obligations in terms of its data functions, and particularly the safeguards that apply to patient data, will become obligations on NHS England. The merger, which has been announced as Government policy, is in response to the recommendation of the Wade-Gery review. It is essential to simplify a complex picture of national responsibilities for digital and data services in the NHS, bringing them together in a single organisation that leads on delivery and the data needed to support it.
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Finally, I turn to amendment 89, on organ tourism. While the Government are sympathetic to its aim of ensuring that the law would capture anyone with a close connection to this country who purchases an organ overseas, we have significant concerns about the adverse impact that such an approach could have on transplant patients and NHS staff. We therefore tabled an amendment in lieu, which would achieve a similar effect without creating a disproportionate impact on vulnerable recipients and NHS staff. In effect, it would mean that wherever in the world their actions take place, most UK nationals—and all residents of England, Wales and Scotland—could be prosecuted for existing offences that cover the trade in human organs. The amendment would encompass paying for the supply of an organ, seeking to find someone willing to supply an organ for payment or initiating or negotiating any commercial arrangement for an organ
to be supplied. Such things are already illegal, and we are extending the territoriality of that for English, Welsh and Scottish residents.
The Government’s amendments strengthen account-ability and improve the Bill. However, several of the amendments from the other place are either unnecessary or have unintended consequences, so we ask the House to reject them.