Healey slams NHS reforms

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The shadow health secretary has condemned the government's reorganisation of the NHS.

Opening an opposition day motion on the future of the health service, John Healey said the prime minister is facing "criticism, confusion and a crisis of confidence" over plans to hand commissioning powers in England to GPs.

However, he was repeatedly reminded by government ministers and MPs that he has previously praised the reorganisation.

Healey said that there is nothing wrong with the "general aims" but claimed the coalition government wants to set up "a full-blown NHS market" that will lead to a break-up of the NHS, with private companies taking over services.

He said it also makes sense in principle to hand public health powers to local authorities, but ministers are not giving them the powers and resources to do the job properly.

He called on Lib Dems to back his motion as it reflects the concerns of their party activists.

Healey attacked GP commissioning boards for having "none of the standards of public governance" that would be expected.

He said David Cameron made the NHS "his most personal pledge" and it is now his "biggest broken promise".

Healey called on health secretary Andrew Lansley to "shelve the bill" and make radical changes to it.

Lansley said the Labour motion is weak, and they had nothing to say about the future.

During robust exchanges - at one point Mr Speaker told MPs "in an excitable state" to calm down - the health secretary said his reforms will give power to doctors, nurses and patients.

He said under Labour a £5bn bureaucracy was allowed to develop, while NHS productivity declined 15 per cent.

The NHS reform bill before parliament was put on "pause" over disquiet from NHS professionals and others about the plans.

Lansley conceded there will be "substantive changes".

"But there is only one issue for me - will it deliver better care for patients," he said.

"That is why we are going to pursue NHS modernisation, that is why we will stick to our principles. That is what the coalition government is committed to do."

Lansley said his plans will put patient care and outcomes at the fore.

He accused Labour of "union-driven" rhetoric on the health service.

Andrew George (Lib Dem, St Ives) expressed concern about that the plans are yet another top-down reorganisation of the NHS, but said the reform is "in fact a delivery of the coalition agreement".

Stephen Dorrell, chair of the health select committee, said the NHS must be reformed and called for focus on the problems facing it.

He also accused the opposition of a "torrent of rhetoric" that failed to demonstrate how these plans are not in fact a continuation of Labour policies.

"It is a desire on the part of the health secretary to take ideas that were expressed and pushed through by Labour ministers between 1997 and 2010 and to seek to make them effective in the context of the challenge described," he told the House.

Dorrell said there should be change to the clinical model, with a radical integration of primary care, community care and social care overseen by GPs.