My Lords, I am of course grateful to the noble Baroness but I am not sure that she has entirely dealt with the concerns expressed. Because the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, referred a lot to the GMC, I should just say that, although I am a member of its board, I am not acting here on behalf of the GMC at all.
The noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, and I signed the amendment and we both start from the basis of supporting digital transformation in the NHS, but we have always seen that it has to go hand in hand with the safeguards. That is why this debate is so important. We have heard powerful interventions from the noble Baronesses, Lady Brinton and Lady Harris, about why the police Bill had to be amended in relation to police access to patient information. The noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, referred to the issues for clinicians if they did not feel that the integrity of the patient confidentiality system was sufficiently safeguarded.
The Minister has basically said that we need not worry, because the NHS will only deal with information lawfully, and she went through some of the protections, including the fact that in the Bill there are conditions before the integrated care board can release the information. She referred to the data protection legislation, the GDPR, the special category given to health data about patients and the Caldicott principles. She went on to say essentially that my amendment would cause problems, because it would get in the way of legitimate information being given by the ICB, which might have an impact on patient care quality.
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I do not pretend that my amendment is perfect in any way; I have always seen it as a probing amendment. But my concerns remain, and the contrast between the conditions put into the police Bill as compared with the health Bill seem, on the face of it, puzzling and need to be explored further. The Minister has kindly offered me a meeting. I hope that the noble Baronesses, Lady Brinton and Lady Harris, and perhaps the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, could also be invited, because they clearly have insights into this. But I am grateful for the offer of the meeting. Obviously we will want to return to this on Report. In the meantime, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.