Health Bill [HL]

My Lords, that is for a family of four. Four times 1,700 is 6,800, I believe. The service is paid for and people ought to know that they are paying for it, not be told that it is free of charge. If we are going to get pressure for better services and better administration, people should know how much they are paying. It is about time that we gave serious consideration to showing on people’s payslips exactly what they are being charged—in other words, a health contribution. I agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Knight, that patients should be treated with courtesy and respect. She is right that when people of an older generation go into hospital they expect to be treated with dignity; they should be called ““Mr”” or ““Mrs”” and not by their Christian name—their first name, rather—without their consent. I have had a lot of complaints about that, and it is time that that was understood in hospitals. The same goes for mixed-sex accommodation. In 1995 this House passed a Bill to outlaw mixed-sex accommodation. I moved it, as a matter of fact, and it went through this House without dissent. Fourteen years later it has still not been got rid of. I welcome the announcement, although not in this place or the other place, that the Secretary of State is going to take stern action to see that mixed-sex accommodation is phased out, but he then went on to threaten those hospitals that do not do it with having money withdrawn from them. That means money withdrawn from patients—absolutely the wrong thing to do. He should say that if they cannot do it themselves, the Government will bring in another trust to manage that particular trust or hospital. I hope that that will be considered instead of penalising patients by withdrawing financial support. We have promises of continuous improvements in the National Health Service. I hope that that will continue in spite of the economic and financial difficulties we have. It is essential that some services, anyway, are improved. I also hope that the operation of the EU working time directive, which restricts hours worked to 48 per week, will not adversely affect the work of doctors, nurses and other staff in the National Health Service. Perhaps I could have that assurance from the Minister. How are patients to be informed properly of their rights? That needs further consideration. They need to know their rights; they should be informed of them when they go into hospital, if not before. Perhaps, generally, the population should know anyway. Part 3 of the Bill covers the prohibition of tobacco displays in shops and on the internet. That really is going too far. Such a provision ought not to be in this Bill. This is a health Bill, and restraint of trade ought to come under another department, perhaps the Department of Trade and Industry, or whatever it is called these days. This is a restraint of trade; it is preventing purveyors of tobacco displaying their wares. If you did that in any other industry which poses health problems, you would be getting rid of a lot of food, for example. We have heard a lot of talk about sweets and chocolate. They would be banned. You would not be able to display them to children in case their teeth were damaged or there was some other complaint. Would McDonald’s be able to display or advertise its products? You could go through everything and, before very long, nothing would be on display because of being dangerous in some way. This is yet another witch hunt against smokers and the people who provide tobacco products. There is a huge risk, as we have already heard, that many small shopkeepers will be put out of business. The legislation reaches a new height of authoritarianism by banning shopkeepers from displaying their wares. There may be a hint of racism about this, as well.