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Health and Social Care Bill

This group of amendments reflect areas in part 2 of the Bill where arguments put forward in the other place merited serious consideration. We have also tabled amendments to achieve a new policy, which I will turn to first. Amendments Nos. 36, 60, 75 to 78 and 85 to 89 were introduced at Grand Committee stage in the other place to meet a Government commitment to abolish the Hearing Aid Council by April 2009 and to transfer the regulation of private hearing aid dispensers to the Health Professions Council. This group of amendments is intended to achieve that by paving the way for a future Order in Council under the section 60 provisions of the Health Act 1999, in addition to ensuring that public hearing aid dispensers can be regulated in the same way in the future. I accept that it is not ideal that this House did not have the opportunity to consider this provision in its deliberations in Committee. I hope, however, that hon. Members will forgive the fact that this is a late addition to the Bill in recognition of the very real benefits that this measure will bring for patients and consumers. First, this will provide improved protection for the hearing impaired and simplify the regulatory framework for hearing aid dispensers. Although the council has done a fantastic job over the past 40 years, it is operating under legislation that is increasingly outdated with gaps in consumer protection. The Health Professions Council, established in 2001, has modern and comprehensive legislation that will provide for a much more complete service to patients and consumers. As a multi-professional statutory regulator, it can provide greater resources while charging considerably smaller fees to the profession. Secondly, and importantly, the Hearing Aid Council itself, the Health Professions Council, the Royal National Institute for Deaf People and the British Society of Hearing Aid Audiologists are all fully supportive of this move, and are working together to ensure that the transition will be as smooth as possible. I turn now to the amendments that we have brought forward as a result of debates in the other place. Amendment No. 32 addresses concerns that the Secretary of State's power of direction over the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence in the Bill, as originally drafted, could be perceived as undermining the independence of the CHRE. The reason for including it in the Bill was as a mechanism to help the CHRE to prioritise its workload in busy periods, but having discussed it with the CHRE we are now confident that it can be dispensed with. On clause 116, I was persuaded by arguments put forward in the other place that the Bill could be strengthened to ensure that the careers of health care workers are not damaged by malicious or untrue allegations. Amendment No. 35 therefore requires the appropriate Minister to have regard"““to the importance of avoiding unfair prejudice to health care workers against whom unsubstantiated allegations are made””" when making the regulations setting out in detail how information can and should be shared.