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Health Bill [HL]

I, too, support the amendment tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Masham. The noble Earl, Lord Howe, spoke about stroke, of which I had personal experience when the wife of an America relative came to this country some years ago and had a serious stroke. She was taken to one of our best teaching hospitals, not far from here, in the middle of the night. I spent the night there begging the staff to give her a brain scan. Her husband arrived, asked for the same thing and was told, in no uncertain terms, that that is not what we do in this country. That woman still cannot speak. Our practice has changed, but the average person cannot argue. If people with spinal injuries are in the wrong place, they are not given access to the right sort of care very quickly. We heard about the particularly moving tragedy of Daniel James. We cannot care in the way that we would want to for people who suffer these serious accidents. I hope that we can persuade the Minister to accept this amendment.