12 September 2003
The NHS Confederation has urged peers to support the establishment of foundation hospitals following a renewed wave of criticism.
As is traditional, the Lords gave the Bill that will set up the controversial trusts a second reading without opposition this week. However, with an inbuilt Opposition majority in the upper house, the Health and Social Care Bill is likely to be significantly amended now it has passed into the committee stage.
The opposition to the not-for-profit trusts in the Lords has been encouraged by former health secretary Frank Dobson, who took the unusual step for an MP of issuing a briefing to peers that outlines his objections to the measure.
The TUC congress in Brighton this week highlighted union displeasure at the initiative.
Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said: 'The government talks of modernisation, reform, and markets – what they really mean is more competition, more fragmentation, more privatisation.
'I'm incredulous at the efforts of some in government to focus not on what is being achieved, not on what is being delivered, but on a twisted ideology that promotes private sector delivery and denigrates and demoralises staff.'
In a reference to Health Secretary John Reid's earlier suggestion that he may propose a change in name for foundation trusts, Prentis said they should be called 'private hospitals'.
Sir Bill Morris, head of the T&G, said the reform would prove to be a 'dagger in the heart of the NHS'.
However, the confederation said foundation trusts were a step in the right direction and warned against further watering down of the freedoms proposed for them.
Chief executive Gill Morgan said most trust chief executives supported the foundation initiative because they believed it would improve local accountability and allow them to innovate to provide better patient care.
She acknowledged there were legitimate concerns but said these should not detract from the positives in the Bill.
'To block the Bill now, or to dilute the freedoms for foundation trusts, will defeat the ultimate objective of improving local accountability and giving more autonomy to those at the NHS front line,' she said.
PFsep2003
