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Health Bill [HL]

That information, through the quality accounts, will be available to the commissioners. One statement about commissioners and providers which I have sometimes found challenging—we debated this before—is that the best services are usually provided by the commissioners and providers coming in to a strategic partnership and designing the quality of services that they wish to see. That is what I hope the quality accounts will allow, and they will drive that. If I can cite personal examples, I remember numerous cases when I started using robotic surgery. The commissioners were not happy with that, but I had the assurance of all my effectiveness and safety data, and certainly my patients did. Patients usually drive innovation if they are empowered with that information. They jointly sit with the commissioners and decide the quality of services they want to provide to their local population. Information is what brings people together to ensure that they are commissioning the type of services that the provider is able to provide.