Health Bill [HL]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for one of the politest and most thoroughly considered responses that I have ever had to an amendment. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Campbell-Savours for his response, too. I hope the Minister will accept that I accept that individual budgets can bring about cost savings and be more efficient. I am not as convinced as he is that they will automatically be more effective and efficient. Even the noble Baroness, Lady Campbell, who was a bit embarrassed about the example of her mattress, had the grace to concede that a physiotherapy service in which the physiotherapist goes to somebody’s work to provide physiotherapy at a point and place convenient to the person receiving the service might have a higher unit cost than one that is run for the benefit of several people from a traditional NHS facility. Let us not take one example and from it extrapolate savings that may or may not arise across the NHS. I want individual budgets to succeed. A critical part of their success will be their being subject to full, rigorous and independent review. I suspect that the process will have to carry on way beyond pilots. Pilots are carried out by people who are enthusiastic and work extremely hard to make sure that they are a success. That may not be the case when they are rolled out, as I am sure that they will be, throughout the whole of the NHS. I thank the Minister and beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment 30 withdrawn. Amendment 31 not moved.