Health and Care Act: Royal Assent

Recently, the Health and Care Act received Royal Assent.

As Norwich North builds back better from this pandemic, it is right and necessary that our health and care services are at the forefront. The pandemic underlined not only the dedication and skill of those in this sector, but also the necessity of a broader, more integrated health and care system.

This Act is a key milestone in the health system in England. It will help reduce bureaucracy, strengthen integration, boost accountability, and deliver on our ambitious agenda for change. In short, it has equipped the NHS with much of the legislative framework it needs to be fit for the future.

We are not only recovering from the pandemic but learning from it, and the principles that underpin the Act have never been more important. It will form the bedrock for the NHS to build on in the years ahead.

The Act will improve health and care services in many important ways, such as:

• Requiring the inclusion of cancer outcome objectives in the NHS mandate, helping to boost survival rates and improve outcomes for over 300,000 people a year who are diagnosed with cancer.
• Paving the way for a licensing regime for non-surgical cosmetic procedures, cracking down on the unregulated aesthetics industry and protecting patients from the physical and mental harms that come with botched cosmetic procedures.
• Making important commitments on the safeguarding of children, and required Integrated Care Boards to set out any proposed steps to address the particular needs of victims of abuse.
• Establishing Integrated Care Boards and Integrated Care Partnerships, strengthening partnerships between the NHS and local authorities and improving integration and collaboration across the health system.
• Supporting parity of esteem across physical and mental health, to support the mental health and wellbeing of everyone, and to ensure that the right support is in place for all.
• Introducing measures to ensure that our health and social care workforce have the right skills and knowledge to provide informed care to autistic people and people with a learning disability by making specialised training mandatory by law.
• Announcing a plan for adult social care that will protect individuals and families against unpredictable and potentially catastrophic care costs.
• Delivering landmark modern slavery legislation with a view to eradicating the use of goods or services tainted by slavery in the NHS - representing a significant step forward in the UK’s mission to crack down on this evil practice wherever it is found.

The Government continues to work to a target date of 1st July for establishing Integrated Care Boards, and are working closely with NHS England and stakeholders across the health and care system to ensure operational changes are aligned with legislative changes. I am also in close communication with the local health authorities regarding this.

This Act is a major step forward, nationally and for local constituents, but it is not the end of the Government’s ambitions for the health service. It gives the NHS the levers it needs, but they know that more needs to be done to tackle deep rooted challenges, which this Government is ambitious and eager to do.

I welcome this Act and the benefits it will bring to constituents of Norwich North.

As always, if I can help constituents with any matter, please do email me on chloe@chloesmith.org.uk or ring my constituency office on 01603 414756.