Today, on behalf of the Government, I welcome formally the report from the Commission on the Future of Nursing and Midwifery in England.

The commission, chaired by my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Health, the hon. Member for Brentford and Isleworth (Ann Keen), was established by the Prime Minister in March 2009 to take a visionary look at how to maximise the contribution of nurses and midwives to the health of the nation in the future.

It undertook an extensive engagement exercise, hearing the views of many thousands of nurses, midwives, patients, and members of the public across England and its report, “Front Line Care”, sets out proposals to ensure that the nurses and midwives of the future are at the heart of designing and delivering 21st century health services.

I welcome the messages in the report that the fundamentals of patient care should always remain the core responsibility of nurses and midwives, but also that responsibility for care needs to go right through to the board.

I would like to place my thanks on record to the commission for the work that has led to this report.

My Department and I will consider the contents of the report in detail, and will formally respond in due course.

I am placing a copy of the report in the Library and copies are available to hon. Members from the Vote Office.