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Health and Social Care Bill

My Lords, it would be wrong if I did not add my few words of thanks to those of my noble friend Lady Cumberlege to the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, and the noble Lord, Lord Darzi, for having listened so carefully to the issues we raised in Grand Committee, and for having responded so constructively to them. I particularly welcome Amendments Nos. 9 and 12, and not least the fact that we will now have LINks mentioned in the Bill. I am also glad to see ““experiences””, in relation to the experiences of patients and service users, substituted for ““satisfaction””. It is a more neutral term which is more conducive to the effective measurement of the quality of services. I congratulate the Minister on having reconfigured this part of the Bill in a way that reads a lot better than the original did. We have the objectives and the matters to which the commission must have regard. The way that the clauses flow from one another is a lot better and easier to understand. I for one am glad to see these amendments included in the Bill.