The health secretary has launched a consultation on the best way to measure improvements in hospital care.

Party Response: Conservatives

Tim Yeo, shadow secretary of state for health and education, said: “Dr Reid is on shaky ground. On the day that he promised to slash performance targets, which star ratings are measured against, he stood by his assertion that the star ratings system will not be abolished.

“Dr Reid has also gone to great lengths to defend the targets that the Department of Health has set in the past. If he really believed this, why has he promised a bonfire of these targets by 2005-6?

“The truth is that the government have performed a U-turn on targets and their star rating system in all but name but have neither the decency to admit it or the grace to apologise for the damage they have caused.

“The Conservatives have called on numerous occasions for Labour’s star rating to be scrapped. The system, which encourages healthcare professionals to meet centrally set targets above all else, is simply wrong. As a result of Labour’s slavish devotion to targets, doctors and nurses have been forced - against their medical judgements - to distort clinical priorities.”

Party Response: Liberal Democrats

Paul Burstow, Liberal Democrat health spokesman, said: "This is a welcome climb down by the government. Ministers are trying to spin the message that targets were a success, but this dramatic u-turn is a clear sign of failure.

"We have campaigned for years for these tick box targets to be scrapped, and the government has finally started to listen.

"The tick box approach has put political headlines above patients’ needs. It has stopped doctors treating the sickest quickest. The government is waiting until after the election to get rid of the targets because that is all they are about - winning votes. The targets should be scrapped now.

"The key question still to be answered is which targets are the government planning to keep and why? Patients need clear information and national standards, not political targets. Ministers should stop interfering and let frontline staff get on with the job of treating patients."

Forum Response: Construction Products Association

Chris Bennett, external affairs executive, told ePolitix.com: "John Reid has emphasised that current NHS targets are working and that they are ensuring that we have the 'biggest hospital building programme in the history of the NHS'.

"The Association believes that existing targets for new and improved health facilities should be maintained and that any system of standards should support the effective delivery of this much needed capital investment into the NHS.

"Huge backlogs of repair still exist on the NHS estate, leaving areas still non-compliant with fire and health and safety legislation. Any new "standards" must ensure that this backlog is dealt with as a matter of priority. If they are not time-specific and measurable then the government will escape scrutiny.

"Furthermore, standards cannot be a substitute for targets when responding to future need for new and improved buildings to ensure the NHS delivers a first class service."

Forum Response: BUPA

Amy Henson, government affairs officer for BUPA, told ePolitix.com: "The new standards for the NHS announced yesterday by John Reid are an encouraging and welcome step. In particular BUPA is pleased to see that there is a commitment to move towards a set of common standards covering both public and private healthcare sectors: an issue on which we have been campaigning for some time.

"Currently, NHS and independent hospitals are regulated differently. Independent sector hospitals work to transparent, detailed, national minimum standards, while NHS hospitals work to wide-ranging, less explicit principles and guidance.

"A single set of standards for both sectors will ensure a high degree of transparency for patients and less bureaucracy for NHS and independent sector managers and clinical staff.

"If all hospitals operate under the same set of minimum standards it will be clear to patients if a hospital fails to meet patient care and quality expectations. If this happens the hospital should not be allowed to treat any more patients until it regains accreditation. (A system along these lines already operates in the independent sector and could be extended to cover all hospitals). 

"A health care provider's task should be to provide the highest quality care it can. This means putting the patient first and not keeping open hospitals that fail patients."