Health Bill

moved Amendment No. 58:"Page 10, line 16, at end insert ““, and" ( ) furnish additional guidance on best practice”” The noble Baroness said: The issue of good practice has seized me for quite some time. I note that towards the end of the code of practice there is a requirement on healthcare trusts to take part in providing information that can be used to advance good practice and to advance collaboration on good practice. I also note from the discussion of this matter in another place that the National Electronic Library for Health was due to produce a virtual electronic manual of good practice on this subject. What is the progress on that? As with all codes of practice, their value is twofold; first punitive, in that failure to comply represents an opportunity for the star rating of a hospital to go down. Far more valuable is its existence as an instrument of development and dissemination of good practice, which is an ongoing issue in the NHS and across a number of fields. The reason for tabling the amendment was to ask the Minister how much emphasis will be placed on the gathering and dissemination of good practice in the NHS. I beg to move.