To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to page 38 of his Department’s consultation on the NHS Constitution dated 30 June 2008, for what reason the wording of the seventh principle contained in the NHS Plan has been changed in the draft NHS Constitution. (222429)

The draft national health service constitution says that public funds for healthcare will be “devoted solely to the benefit of the people that the NHS serves”, whereas the NHS plan said they would be “devoted solely to NHS patients”. The revised wording does not represent any change in policy, but simply recognises that not all NHS funding is spent on patients. For example, funding for public health campaigns is used to promote the health of the wider population.

The draft NHS constitution and the Government’s proposals are open for public consultation until 17 October 2008. The details, including how to feed in views, are available on the Department’s website at:

www.dh.gov.uk/consultations.