19 September 2003
Health Secretary John Reid told union activists this week that the government was not trying to privatise the NHS.
In a speech to a meeting of the Amicus union on September 17, Reid said Labour's policies that aim to widen patients' choice over where they are treated would increase equity in health care.
Patient choice will be extended through the creation of foundation trusts and the commissioning of care from the private sector, including the 26 new independent sector Treatment Centres he announced last week.
The Bill that will establish foundation trusts is currently being given a rough ride in Parliament, and unions and Labour backbenchers are worried that the use of private providers will lead NHS units to close. But, in a speech intended to reach a wider audience, Reid sought to reassure opponents that choice would enhance one of the health service's founding principles – equal access for all.
'It is by developing choice and capacity in the NHS that Labour will increase equity in health in this country. Almost 60 years of telling people what to do and where to go has not created equality of access,' he said.
By 2005, every patient will be able to choose between four hospitals and at least one of these will be a private unit. The patient's GP will be able to offer them information about each hospital and talk over the options so they can make an informed choice.
'It will mean that people will be able to make decisions that fit into their own lives and their own calendars,' he added.
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