The Committee is supposed to finish in one minute.

The Committee is supposed to finish in one minute.

I shall be very brief, as we are up against the clock. I hope that we will have a constructive reply from the Minister this evening in so far as she has time to deliver one. I understand that the Government did not provide witnesses to the inquiry chaired so...

I shall be very brief, as we are up against the clock. I hope that we will have a constructive reply from the Minister this evening in so far as she has time to deliver one. I understand that the Government did not provide witnesses to the inquiry chaired so...

There is a large number of people in this country who are HIV infected but who do not know their HIV status. One estimate I have seen is that there are as many as 20,000 of them and many are in the immigrant population, including asylum seekers. This risks the...

There is a large number of people in this country who are HIV infected but who do not know their HIV status. One estimate I have seen is that there are as many as 20,000 of them and many are in the immigrant population, including asylum seekers. This risks the...

Before my noble friend sums up the debate, I want to clarify the point about HIV. There is clearly an entirely different understanding on the part of the department and of the HIV charities about the position of staff who are treating people with HIV. The Minister and her officials...

Before my noble friend sums up the debate, I want to clarify the point about HIV. There is clearly an entirely different understanding on the part of the department and of the HIV charities about the position of staff who are treating people with HIV. The Minister and her officials...

We provide counselling, but we ensure that urgent treatment is always provided and that the decision on urgency is always made by a clinical professional. If the need for treatment is not yet urgent and the person can return home, that is what they should do. Otherwise, we will ask...

We provide counselling, but we ensure that urgent treatment is always provided and that the decision on urgency is always made by a clinical professional. If the need for treatment is not yet urgent and the person can return home, that is what they should do. Otherwise, we will ask...

I should like to associate myself with those comments. I shall speak to Amendments 123 and 124 in the name of my noble friend Lord Howe. Sadly, the Committee is denied his customary elegance, but I shall do my best. Clause 32 provides for disclosure of information by HMRC to...

I should like to associate myself with those comments. I shall speak to Amendments 123 and 124 in the name of my noble friend Lord Howe. Sadly, the Committee is denied his customary elegance, but I shall do my best. Clause 32 provides for disclosure of information by HMRC to...

I am most grateful to the Minister for that optimistic reply and for answering the question "When?" by stating that by Easter we should see something. I hope that that will be before this amendment has to appear on Report, if it needs to—I hope that it will not need...

I am most grateful to the Minister for that optimistic reply and for answering the question "When?" by stating that by Easter we should see something. I hope that that will be before this amendment has to appear on Report, if it needs to—I hope that it will not need...

Amendment 125 seeks important changes to organ donation that aim to enable a person or the family of a person to express a wish that a specific family member or friend who is on the transplant list should receive that person’s organs after death. I am pleased to be able...

Amendment 125 seeks important changes to organ donation that aim to enable a person or the family of a person to express a wish that a specific family member or friend who is on the transplant list should receive that person’s organs after death. I am pleased to be able...

Extremely briefly, I support the spirit behind the amendment; the actual words we can deal with later.

Extremely briefly, I support the spirit behind the amendment; the actual words we can deal with later.

Well, I am very happy to sit down and now stand up again. Will the noble Baroness, who knows that I hold her in great respect, deal with two questions? The first goes back to the mother and baby unit. How far does that estimate of 15 patients from National...

Well, I am very happy to sit down and now stand up again. Will the noble Baroness, who knows that I hold her in great respect, deal with two questions? The first goes back to the mother and baby unit. How far does that estimate of 15 patients from National...

I shall have a go at answering those questions. My own trust runs a very small mother and baby unit. It is interesting that the demand is very limited. For those severely mentally unwell mothers with newly born babies who come into the unit, it is immensely important, partly to...

I shall have a go at answering those questions. My own trust runs a very small mother and baby unit. It is interesting that the demand is very limited. For those severely mentally unwell mothers with newly born babies who come into the unit, it is immensely important, partly to...

However, the noble Baroness did, if I recall, correctly quote some figures of between 5 per cent and 30 per cent. Even with the increase from 5 per cent to 30 per cent in those National Health Service trusts, they are not able to have the advantage—as they might see...

However, the noble Baroness did, if I recall, correctly quote some figures of between 5 per cent and 30 per cent. Even with the increase from 5 per cent to 30 per cent in those National Health Service trusts, they are not able to have the advantage—as they might see...

No.

No.

Exactly. In other words, the ones taking 5 per cent will want to get up to 30 per cent as soon as possible, so it is inevitable that there will be more private work in those National Health Service hospitals. I give way to the noble Lord.

Exactly. In other words, the ones taking 5 per cent will want to get up to 30 per cent as soon as possible, so it is inevitable that there will be more private work in those National Health Service hospitals. I give way to the noble Lord.

Can we have a little bit of clarification? There is no suggestion here that everyone move up to 30 per cent. I was stating facts. One NHS foundation trust has a 30 per cent cap, while others have 5 per cent. What we need is an even playing field and...

Can we have a little bit of clarification? There is no suggestion here that everyone move up to 30 per cent. I was stating facts. One NHS foundation trust has a 30 per cent cap, while others have 5 per cent. What we need is an even playing field and...

I wish to make only two very quick points at this stage. The noble Lord, Lord Campbell-Savours, brought to life again for those of us who had the misfortune to be there, the battles of 2002. The fact that we ended up with such rigid agreements that many years after...

I wish to make only two very quick points at this stage. The noble Lord, Lord Campbell-Savours, brought to life again for those of us who had the misfortune to be there, the battles of 2002. The fact that we ended up with such rigid agreements that many years after...

Amendment 130 130: After Clause 32, insert the following new Clause— "Charges to overseas visitors (1) The National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 1989 (S.I. 1989/306) are amended as follows. (2) In regulation 4, paragraph (1), sub-paragraph (c) after the second "Kingdom" insert "or under the Human Rights...

Amendment 130 130: After Clause 32, insert the following new Clause— "Charges to overseas visitors (1) The National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 1989 (S.I. 1989/306) are amended as follows. (2) In regulation 4, paragraph (1), sub-paragraph (c) after the second "Kingdom" insert "or under the Human Rights...

I shall speak also to Amendment 132. I have spent seven Committee sittings in this Room listening—actually, trying to avoid catching my noble friend’s cold and, as Members of the Committee will see, my upper respiratory tract has finally succumbed so I did not succeed. However, I have sat patiently,...

I shall speak also to Amendment 132. I have spent seven Committee sittings in this Room listening—actually, trying to avoid catching my noble friend’s cold and, as Members of the Committee will see, my upper respiratory tract has finally succumbed so I did not succeed. However, I have sat patiently,...

I, too, associate myself with the amendment of the noble Baroness, Lady Masham. That is not simply on the basis of Yorkshire solidarity, commendable though that undoubtedly is, but comes from my experience in particular. Most of my ministry has been in coal-mining communities. The noble Baroness, Lady Wilkins, briefly...

I, too, associate myself with the amendment of the noble Baroness, Lady Masham. That is not simply on the basis of Yorkshire solidarity, commendable though that undoubtedly is, but comes from my experience in particular. Most of my ministry has been in coal-mining communities. The noble Baroness, Lady Wilkins, briefly...

I must declare an interest in relation to this amendment, which is about spinal cord injuries. I broke my back in 1958 and was taken to a nearby accident hospital at Swindon. I sustained a complete lesion at T5 and had many fractured ribs, a suspected head injury and serious...

I must declare an interest in relation to this amendment, which is about spinal cord injuries. I broke my back in 1958 and was taken to a nearby accident hospital at Swindon. I sustained a complete lesion at T5 and had many fractured ribs, a suspected head injury and serious...