Health Bill

In the unlikely event of the amendment being accepted, the noble Earl might have a case. There is a risk of incentivising failure, but I think that it is probably outweighed by the fact that a great deal of the funding that trusts receive—and, indeed, some of their eligibility to particular types of funding—depends on their overall rating by the Healthcare Commission. Given that the commission will monitor practice, I cannot see that there would be much of a case for trusts to try to gain extra resources through this area of their operation. Most trusts would stand to lose far more in other ways if they adopted that approach, but I take the noble Earl’s point.