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COMMONS AMENDMENTS
30Clause 40, page 38, line 40, after "police;" insert—
"(fa) persons whom he considers to represent the interests of local authorities;
(fb) the Mayor of London;"
31Page 38, line 46, at end insert—
"(6) For the purposes of subsection (3)(fa), local authorities" means district councils, London borough councils, county councils in Wales, county borough councils, the Common Council of the City of London and the Council of the Isles of Scilly."

32 Clause 42, page 39, line 40, after "35" insert "or (Police powers for contracted-out staff)
33Page 39, line 40, at end insert";
"Director General" means—

(a) the Director General of the National Criminal Intelligence Service; or

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(b) the Director General of the National Crime Squad,
"Service Authority" means—

(a) in relation to employment with the National Criminal Intelligence Service or to its Director General, the Service Authority for the National Criminal Intelligence Service, and
(b) in relation to employment with the National Crime Squad or to its Director General, the Service Authority for the National Crime Squad."

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: My Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendments Nos. 30 to 33.

Moved, That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendments Nos. 30 to 33.—(Lord Falconer of Thoroton.)

On Question, Motion agreed to.

COMMONS AMENDMENT
34Before Clause 49, insert the following new clause—
"Persons authorised to take intimate samples from persons in police detention

(1) For subsection (9) of section 62 of the 1984 Act (persons who may take intimate samples) there shall be substituted

"(9) In the case of an intimate sample which is a dental impression, the sample may be taken from a person only by a registered dentist.
(9A) In the case of any other form of intimate sample, except in the case of a sample of urine, the sample may be taken from a person only by—
(a) a registered medical practitioner, or
(b) a registered health care professional."
(2) In section 65 of the 1984 Act (interpretation of Part 5 of that Act), in subsection (1) after the definition of "registered dentist" there shall be inserted—

"'registered health care professional' means a person (other than a medical practitioner) who is
(a) a registered nurse; or
(b) a registered member of a health care profession which is designated for the purposes of this paragraph by an order made by the Secretary of State;".
(3) After that subsection, there shall be inserted—

"(1A) A health care profession is any profession mentioned in section 60(2) of the Health Act 1999 (c. 8) other than the profession of practising medicine and the profession of nursing.
(1B) An order under subsection (1) shall be made by statutory instrument and shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament."

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: My Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 34. This amendment and those grouped with it extend to registered healthcare professionals the provision in the Bill for registered nurses to deal with the taking of blood specimens with consent in drink-driving cases. The group of registered healthcare professionals includes registered nurses but goes wider and includes, for example, registered paramedics.

The new clause, inserted by Amendment No. 34, similarly amends PACE to cover non-drink-drive cases. It allows the full range of registered healthcare professionals to take blood and other intimate samples from suspects at police stations. Making it possible to

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use the broad range of registered healthcare professionals rather than solely registered nurses is a practical measure that extends the benefits of the new provision already agreed without compromising standards.

The amendments and the new clause will remove the need to call on the services of a police surgeon in police custody areas and so avoid delays and promote better value for money.

Moved, That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 34.—(Lord Falconer of Thoroton.)

On Question, Motion agreed to.

COMMONS AMENDMENTS
35Clause 49, page 43, line 26, leave out "nurse" and insert "health care" professional"
36Page 43, line 30, at end insert —
"(2A) In subsection (2) of section ll of that Act(interpretation of sections 3A to 10 of that Act), after the definition of "prescribed limit" there shall be inserted—

"'registered health care professional' means a person (other than a medical practitioner) who is—
(a) a registered nurse; or
(b) a registered member of a health care profession which is designated for the purposes of this paragraph by an order made by the Secretary of State.
(2B) After that subsection there shall be inserted—

"(2A) A health care profession is any profession mentioned in section 60(2) of the Health Act 1999 (c. 8) other than the profession of practising medicine and the profession of nursing.
(2B) An order under subsection (2) shall be made by statutory instrument; and any such statutory instrument shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.""
37Page 43, line 31, leave "section 11 of that Act" and insert "that section".
38Page 43, line 36, leave out "nurse" and insert "health care professional".

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: My Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendments Nos. 35 to 38.

Moved, That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendments Nos. 35 to 38.—(Lord Falconer of Thoroton.)

On Question, Motion agreed to.

COMMONS AMENDMENTS
39Clause 50, page 45, line 1, after "patient" insert "no specimen of blood shall be taken from him under section 7A of this Act and".

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: My Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 39. This amendment and those grouped with it seek to protect a person unconscious after an accident by providing that a constable cannot ask for a blood specimen to be taken if the medical practitioner with clinical care of the person objects.

The Bill already makes it lawful, not compulsory, for a medical practitioner to take a specimen when requested if he thinks fit. Clearly it would not be fitting

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if the practitioner with clinical care objected or if it were against his own medical judgment. Thus it has never been the intention of the Bill to allow a specimen to be taken without consent where the clinician in charge objects. However, we need to ensure as far as possible the equality of treatment between conscious and unconscious patients at which the measures in the Bill are intended.

At the moment a clinician can object to and so prevent a conscious patient from being required to provide a specimen. Under the terms of the Bill the clinician can also object to and so prevent an unconscious patient being required to consent to analysis of a specimen, but he cannot object to and so prevent the specimen from being taken in the first place. While this is technically allowed in the Bill as originally drafted, it is unlikely to happen in practice: a medical practitioner would not normally take a specimen if the clinician in charge of the patient objected for reasons of medical ethics and professional etiquette. It remains, however, a theoretical possibility. The amendments would remove that possibility.

Moved, That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 39.—(Lord Falconer of Thoroton.)

On Question, Motion agreed to.

COMMONS AMENDMENTS
40Page 45, line 3, leave out "section 7A of this Act" and insert "that section".
41Page 45, line 5, after "proposal" insert "to take the specimen or".
42Page 45, line 12, after "that" insert "the taking of the specimen,".
43Clause 51, page 46, line 20, leave out "nurse" and insert "health care professional".
44Page 46, line 38, leave out "section 16(1)" and insert "subsection (1) of section 16".
45 Page 46, line 39, at end insert—
"(6) In subsection (2) of that section (documentary evidence as to consent), after the words "medical practitioner", in both places where they occur, there shall be inserted "or a registered health care professional.".

46Clause 52, page 47, line 8, leave out "nurse" and insert "health care professional".
47Page 47, line 12, at end insert—
"(2A) After subsection (9) of that section there shall be inserted—

"(9A) In this section 'health care professional' means a person (other than a medical practitioner) who is—
(a) a registered nurse; or
(b) a registered member of a health care profession which is designated for the purposes of this paragraph by an order made by the Secretary of State.
(9B) A health care profession is any profession mentioned in section ") of the Health Act 1999 (c. 8) other than the profession of practising medicine and the profession of nursing.
(9C) An order under subsection (9A)(b) shall be made by statutory instrument, and any such statutory instrument shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament."".

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48Page 48, line 23, after "patient" insert "no specimen of blood shall be taken from him under section 31A of this Act and".
49Page 48, line 25, leave out "section 31A of this Act" and insert "that section".
50Page 48, line 27, after "proposal" insert "to take the specimen or".
51Page 48, line 34, after "that" insert "the taking of the specimen".
52Page 49, line 6, at end insert—
"(7A) In section 35(3) of that Act (documentary evidence as to consent) after the words "medical practitioner", in both places where they occur, there shall be inserted "or a registered health care professional".

(7B) After subsection (2) of section 38 of that Act (interpretation of Chapter 1 of Part 2 of that Act) there shall be inserted —

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