Lords debate Health and Social Care
12 October 2011
The House of Lords has its the second reading of the Health and Social Care Bill this morning from 11am.
Speaking in yesterday’s debate, the Countess of Mar made a number of points on behalf of people with M.E., including Action for M.E., saying:
“If Her Majesty's Government are seeking to improve the lot of NHS patients, it is those who suffer chronic illnesses of currently unknown aetiology, who do not respond to standard drug or other treatments, who most deserve to be protected. I can think of no other group that is systematically discriminated against by the medical profession and social services. No other illness than ME has such a big impact on the lives of so many people and yet is given such limited funding for specialist care services and scientific research.”
The House of Lords sat until 12.23am debating the Bill. The Parliamentary website says 87 of the 100 Lords scheduled to take part contributed to the first day of the two-day debate.
“To accommodate the number of speakers, the House of Lords agreed a motion to enable the debate on the Bill to take place before oral questions and the House to sit at 11am yesterday and today. Oral questions will take place at 3pm.
The debate so far
