By Vivienne Russell
4 April 2011
But Andrew Lansley today told MPs this afternoon that he wanted to ‘take the opportunity of a natural break in the passage of the Bill to pause, listen and engage with all those who want the NHS to succeed, and subsequently to bring forward amendments to improve the plans further in the normal way’.
Lansley gave no details of any precise amendments, but flagged up areas where he said the government would try to make improvements.
Top of the list was choice, competition and the involvement of the private sector, which would only ever be means to improve, ‘not ends in themselves’, the health secretary said.
‘People want to know that private companies cannot cherry-pick NHS activity, undermining existing NHS providers; that competition must be fair,’ he said.
On GP commissioning, Lansley said the government recognised that commissioning groups should not have conflicts of interest, must make transparent decisions and be accountable locally as well as nationally.
The coalition government was ‘committed to listening and will take every opportunity to improve the Bill’.
But he said that ‘no change’ was not an option and the health service needed to adapt and improve.
Lansley’s controversial reforms – particularly the introduction of GP commissioning and greater competition within the NHS – have attracted criticism from all sides of the political spectrum.
The centre-Right think-tank Policy Exchange today issued a report urging a slackening of the pace of reform. Based on interviews with the GP leaders of 16 ‘pathfinder’ consortiums, it warned that acting too quickly could mean the new system of GP commissioning would not have an opportunity to bed in properly and could risk replicating the current system in all but name.
The report’s lead author, Eve Norridge, said: ‘In recent years, GP commissioning has in principle received widespread support from politicians of all parties and across the NHS. There are many GPs who have the potential to become highly successful commissioners. It would be a loss to everyone, especially patients, if the policy were discredited due to overly hasty implementation.
‘Our report argues that GPs will need to support the new system if it is going to be a success. Ministers need to address GPs’ concerns before loading such huge new responsibilities on their shoulders.’
Labour leader Ed Miliband has also weighed into the debate. In a speech delivered to the Royal Society of Arts today, he branded the reforms ‘ideological and reckless’.
Miliband said they took no account of the future challenges facing the NHS, including an ageing population and rise in the rate of chronic disease.
‘Given these challenges, the big task for the NHS is to get family doctors and hospitals working more closely together. But the government’s plans risk setting GP against hospital in the battle for profits and patients,’ he said.
The cross-party health select committee will issue a report on the Health Bill tomorrow.
4 April 2011
The health secretary has promised to ‘pause, listen and engage’ before bringing forward amendments to his controversial Health Bill.
The Bill completed its first passage through the Commons on March 31 and will be considered by the Lords after the Easter holiday.But Andrew Lansley today told MPs this afternoon that he wanted to ‘take the opportunity of a natural break in the passage of the Bill to pause, listen and engage with all those who want the NHS to succeed, and subsequently to bring forward amendments to improve the plans further in the normal way’.
Lansley gave no details of any precise amendments, but flagged up areas where he said the government would try to make improvements.
Top of the list was choice, competition and the involvement of the private sector, which would only ever be means to improve, ‘not ends in themselves’, the health secretary said.
‘People want to know that private companies cannot cherry-pick NHS activity, undermining existing NHS providers; that competition must be fair,’ he said.
On GP commissioning, Lansley said the government recognised that commissioning groups should not have conflicts of interest, must make transparent decisions and be accountable locally as well as nationally.
The coalition government was ‘committed to listening and will take every opportunity to improve the Bill’.
But he said that ‘no change’ was not an option and the health service needed to adapt and improve.
Lansley’s controversial reforms – particularly the introduction of GP commissioning and greater competition within the NHS – have attracted criticism from all sides of the political spectrum.
The centre-Right think-tank Policy Exchange today issued a report urging a slackening of the pace of reform. Based on interviews with the GP leaders of 16 ‘pathfinder’ consortiums, it warned that acting too quickly could mean the new system of GP commissioning would not have an opportunity to bed in properly and could risk replicating the current system in all but name.
The report’s lead author, Eve Norridge, said: ‘In recent years, GP commissioning has in principle received widespread support from politicians of all parties and across the NHS. There are many GPs who have the potential to become highly successful commissioners. It would be a loss to everyone, especially patients, if the policy were discredited due to overly hasty implementation.
‘Our report argues that GPs will need to support the new system if it is going to be a success. Ministers need to address GPs’ concerns before loading such huge new responsibilities on their shoulders.’
Labour leader Ed Miliband has also weighed into the debate. In a speech delivered to the Royal Society of Arts today, he branded the reforms ‘ideological and reckless’.
Miliband said they took no account of the future challenges facing the NHS, including an ageing population and rise in the rate of chronic disease.
‘Given these challenges, the big task for the NHS is to get family doctors and hospitals working more closely together. But the government’s plans risk setting GP against hospital in the battle for profits and patients,’ he said.
The cross-party health select committee will issue a report on the Health Bill tomorrow.
