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Health Bill [HL]

Might I raise an issue about which the Minister may not be aware? At the beginning of the National Health Service—and I remember it well because I was practising medicine before it came in—it was possible for individuals to purchase what was known as an amenity bed while continuing to have hospital care. They could pay an additional sum simply to have the convenience of a more comfortable room, for instance. It was purely for the hotel component of their care and not for anything to do with their medical care. That went out a long time ago, but this rather reminds me of that method.