NEWS
Health minister Paul Burstow has accepted that amendments to the NHS reforms in the House of Lords will “improve” the Health & Social Care Bill.
The care services minister was speaking during a panel debate at the Lib Dem conference in Bir- mingham in September, attended by NHE’s sister title, Public Sector Executive.
He said: “I have never known a Bill – in my 14 years in Parliament – that has gone to the House of Lords and come back exactly as it was when it left the House of Commons.
“The House of Lords revises, it improves, it challenges: and that is what it will do with the Health and Social Care Bill. That is exactly what it should do.”
Lib Dem health minister Paul Burstow MP (centre) and Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg meet staff at the Queen Elizabeth hospital,
Birmingham.
medical director turned Lib Dem campaigner, as well as John Pugh, Lib Dem MP for Southport and a longstanding critic of the reforms. He called the Bill a “huge strategic mistake” and suggested many of the NHS’s problems were caused by the constant reorganisations from above.
He was sat on a panel with Lib Dem peer Shirley Williams, one of the key rebels on the reforms. She pronounced herself mostly content with the amendments made follow- ing the listening exercise and NHS Future Forum report, with two vital exceptions: the ‘autonomy clause’ which bans the Health Secretary from interfering with Monitor or the NHS Commissioning Board, and the need to keep the clause giv- ing the Health Secretary residual
responsibility for securing the pro- vision of a comprehensive health service.
Baroness Williams made it clear that the Bill would have a much tougher ride in the Lords than it had in the Commons, due to the cross-party concern about its pro- visions, and the reduced influence of the party whips in the upper chamber. Also on the panel was Dr Graham Winyard, former NHS
While some of the party’s more trenchant critics of the reforms, including Evan Harris and Charles West – both doctors – remain deeply unsatisfied, there was a sense in the question and answer sessions and discussion afterward that most party members felt the listening exercise had genuinely altered the reforms in a positive way. Most of the institutions repre- senting NHS medical professionals have also vowed to carry on cam- paigning against elements of the reforms.
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This is the National
Health
Executive editorial board, comprising senior figures from throughout the healthcare sector who have been advising on our content, contributing to the publication, and discussing some of the biggest trends and issues affecting NHS managers and clinical staff.
Our board, which meets through- o
out the year, comprises:
Michael Dixon – Chair, NHS Alliance
James Gubb – formerly Civitas
Dave Haslam – Chair, National Obesity Forum
Mike Knapton – Associate Medical Director, British Heart Foundation
David Colin-Thome – former National Clinical Director for Primary Care
Susie Sanderson – Executive Board Chair, BDA
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We trust that few of these people need any introduction. Readers can look forward to seeing their influence on the magazine, and direct contributions, in our future editions.
Julia Manning – Chief Executive,
2020health.org
Lord Victor Adebowale – Chief Executive, Turning Point
Nina Pinwill – Associate Director, NICE
Matthew Swindells – Chair, BCS Health
4 | national health executive Sep/Oct 11
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