THIS week has seen the Third Reading of the NHS Reform and Healthcare Professions Bill.

The debate started at 4.30pm and had to conclude at 10pm so it was no surprise that only clauses in the first half of the Bill actually achieved any debate.
The part that I think has most interest for citizens is the part concerning the involvement of the public in healthcare issues and specifically the abolition of Community Health Councils (CHCs) and their replacement organisations that appear to be confusingly complex.

There are strong feelings throughout the country that the independence and democratic nature of CHCs are irreplaceable. A proportion of CHC members are elected councillors.
A Conservative amendment to retain CHCs and strengthen them was defeated by a large Government majority as expected.
Many of us had hopes that an amendment proposed by David Hinchliffe, Labour MP for Wakefield and chairman of the Health Select Committee that would have improved the Government's proposals would have been acceptable. This proposed the formation of Patients Councils that would have brought together all the multiple bodies proposed under the new plans and made them more accessible and easier to understand. It did provoke a minor rebellion among Labour backbenchers and the Government majority against it was cut to 74.

The important sections of the Bill relating to regulations of the professions did not receive any attention at all due to the time limit. The NHS Reform Bill will next move to the House of Lords and we will have to wait and see what happens there. The other important points of the Bill that were discussed include the devolution of powers to primary care trusts and the abolition of health authorities as we know them with the formation of Strategic Health Authorities covering much larger areas, but without bread and butter commissioning functions. Although I am in favour of local NHS management there are already suggestions that devolution will have snags as well as benefits.

On a lighter note, my walk to work each morning is delightful.
Cormorants on the Thames are common and yesterday four of them were fishing persistently just under Westminster Bridge.

We are planning another lobby of Parliament - this time with groups from other communities with threatened hospitals - on Tuesday, March 26.
This will be to emphasise the importance of consistency in emergency care provision across the country and we are hoping that the expected Royal College of Physicians report will support this aim. Further details will be available soon