Health and Social Care Bill

My Lords, my name is also attached to Amendment 13. The case has been very well made by the noble Lord, Lord Patel, so I have very little to add, except that it is obvious that education and training are a key part of any service provision. For a service under pressure, looking after the patients always comes first, and it is very difficult in some circumstances to provide the time that education and training need. It takes a bit longer in an outpatient clinic to teach a young graduate medical person; it takes longer in the operating theatre, I suspect, to show how it should be done; it takes time to allow junior trainees to go on education courses and rotations. The pressure on a service is always to concentrate on caring for the patients and education and training can easily be given a back seat. This amendment helps straighten that balance.