06.09.11
Health & Social Care Bill debated in Parliament
The NHS Health & Social Care Bill is returning to Parliament, with MPs set to debate more than 1,000 amendments in just two days.
Many doctors, nurses and other health professionals remain opposed to the plans, and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg’s conditions for supporting the bill – including removal of deadlines and not forcing GPs into signing up to commissioning consortia – have not been met by the amended version of the bill, according to some Liberal Democrats, who are keen for further amendments to be made.
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has published a list of concerns over the changes, and is holding a ‘vigil’ outside Parliament tomorrow evening. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “Instead of dealing with the real criticisms of its health reforms, the Government is simply making the reforms even more complex and bureaucratic.”
The NHS Confederation has also expressed concern over the reforms, with chief executive Mike Farrar saying: “We remain to be convinced that the Government’s NHS reforms will deliver a coherent system and enable the health service to tackle the most significant challenges it faces today.
“NHS leaders urgently need the freedom and the right tools to drive radical changes and improvements to patient care. The way the bill currently stands, there is a risk that the decision making process to change local services is hindered by new structures, taking away the freedom and clarity local decision makers need to drive better care for their patients. There is a real danger that the NHS could find itself in paralysis.”
Labour MPs and some unions are insisting that the bill marks the beginning of the privatisation of the NHS, but Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said: “Claims that we aim to privatise the NHS amount to nothing more than ludicrous scaremongering. The reality is that we're giving more power and choice to patients over how they get treated, keeping waiting times low and cutting bureaucracy so more cash gets to the front line.”
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