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Health and Social Care Bill

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, has raised an issue that has created concern in a great many quarters. The idea that an outstanding clinical group should be able to gain as a result of its outstanding performance but should then plough the money that came from that back into further improvements of the CCG is, I think, is broadly acceptable to the House. On the other hand, the possibility of such quality payments being used to benefit individual persons who are members of or partners in that CCG raises very large questions, not least about the relationship between patients and their providers within a CCG. This issue deserves much longer consideration. It has caused quite a lot of concern in a number of quarters, some of which has been made available to us through e-mails and letters. I will not pursue the detail of the matter this late at night—I would be very unpopular if I did so—but this is not a trivial issue; it is a substantial issue and one that I hope that the Minister will feel able to answer briefly tonight, but, if not, perhaps he could return to it at a later stage.