National Health Service Commissioning Board and Clinical Commissioning Groups (Responsibilities and Standing Rules) (Amendment) Regulations 2019 Debate
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Lord Taylor of Goss Moor
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National Health Service Commissioning Board and Clinical Commissioning Groups (Responsibilities and Standing Rules) (Amendment) Regulations 2019
Lord Taylor of Goss Moor Excerpts(4 years, 11 months ago)
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Baroness Jolly (LD)
My Lords, I share some of the concerns expressed by the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton—she has dug out a few that I have not mentioned or even thought of. Many of us here will have had friends or family in receipt of this funding. My mother received it towards the end of her life. By way of clarification, can the Minister confirm whether FNC is funded in the same way as end-of-life care? If so, is there the same sort of uplift?
It would be good to look at this in the context of a Green Paper. I know that that is a dig and something that we say frequently, but so much of this would be much easier to debate in your Lordships’ House if we had a Green Paper to read and could try to understand the Government’s intentions.
These changes will impact on CCG funding with effect from 26 April, so the increase is not within the CCGs’ budget for this year. What will the extra cost be to CCGs? Is there likely to be an in-year top-up to cover it, however small?
The patients we are talking about will be resident in nursing homes. I wonder whether the sector was consulted about the changes. What was its reaction to LaingBuisson’s estimate of a 3.1% efficiency uplift? What was LaingBuisson’s rationale? If the Minister has that in her notes, I would be interested to know where the 3.1% came from. Why was it not 3%? I am sure that a lot of people would like to know that—not least the sector.
Lord Taylor of Goss Moor (LD)
If my noble friend will allow me, I would like to ask a question. Is it not the case that the people who work in this sector are, by and large, extraordinarily low-paid while caring for some of the neediest people in this country? The collapse of so many providers in the sector suggests there is something fundamentally wrong, to which efficiency savings do not seem a realistic response.