09.03.11
NHS reforms put Coalition under strain
A rebel Lib Dem has vowed to lead fights against the NHS reforms from within the Coalition – and thinks he will gain Conservative support.
Southport MP John Pugh, who has warned of “chaos and confusion” and said it is “likely” that he will be forced to the vote against the Health and Social Care Bill in its current form, is also the chairman of a Lib Dem committee set up to communicate backbench opinion to the party’s ministers.
Dr Pugh told the Liverpool Daily Post that his prime concerns were not privatisation, as he thinks GPs will still mostly commission care from the health service, but that he was very worried about the upheaval involved in scrapping so many NHS bodies, and the likelihood of patients being treated in inappropriate settings as increased competition threatens existing clinical networks.
He told the newspaper: “Chaos and confusion – as well as higher costs – are the likely outcomes from this legislation, as it stands at the moment.
“For example, patients from Southport are treated at Alder Hey, or Clatterbridge, but those clinical networks don't happen by accident – they depend on someone commissioning the care that people need.
“I will be encouraging Lib Dems to support amendments. MPs are waking up to the obvious problems, not only Liberal Democrats, but Tories, who are taking a second look at it.”
The Bill, which is being examined in committee in the Commons, is expected to come under sustained fire at the party’s spring conference in Sheffield this weekend.
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