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(c) the extent to which, in the case of each NHS hospital, the resources exist to put the beds so withdrawn to good use for resident patients who are not private patients.
§ The Commons disagreed to the above Amendment but proposed the following Amendment in lieu thereof:
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(3A) The Secretary of State shall so far as is practicable ensure that the beds released by the reduction made under this section are made available for the use of patients other than private patients."
§ Lord WELLS-PESTELLMy Lords, I beg to move that this House doth not insist on their Amendment No. 10 but propose Amendment No. 11 in lieu thereof. The Amendment provides that the Secretary of State shall, so far as is practicable, ensure that the beds released by the reduction made in this part of the Bill are made available for the use of patients other than private patients.
§ Moved, That the House doth not insist on the said Amendment, but agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 11 in lieu thereof.—(Lord Wells-Pestell.)
1697§ Baroness YOUNGMy Lords, we on this side of the House are at any rate grateful that we have half a loaf as a result of the discussions that we have had in this House. I feel that this proves that there is some point in a revising Chamber and of course we are grateful for the Amendment that has come forward. I would be the first to say that it is better drafted because it enables the beds to be used for out-patients as well as for in-patients. I entirely accept that. The drafting of our Amendment was not as good or as clear as it should have been and I feel that the present wording has the advantage. I am sorry that there is any question that the phased-out beds could be used for anybody other than patients in the National Health Service but this is not a point over which we shall quibble at this late stage, and we are glad that the Government have gone at least part of the way towards accepting our Amendment.
§ Lord PLATTMy Lords, this was a question on which, although I sympathised with the views of the Opposition, I felt that their Amendment was too restrictive. I was not alone in that and I think that the Commons Amendment is a reasonable compromise, though perhaps it does not go quite as far as we should have liked.
§ Lord WELLS-PESTELLMy Lords, I think that the only point that I want to make is that I was glad that we were able to go some way towards meeting the noble Baroness.