So one half of the Laurel and Hardy comedy act is going to personally take charge of the “NHS reform bill”. I think that you are realizing that your financial cuts and slow desecration of the UK,is really annoying people especially, in your own party and reserve party.
Your partner in crime the egotistical Clegg,has been told by his party that they don’t like it and don’t want it, and at long last the Libdems are realizing that getting into bed with you was a bad idea. The truth be known, you are scared that come the May 5th elections, your partners in crime are going to take a massive beating, along with you I suspect, and maybe, just maybe they will defect to the opposition, then if that does happen we could have a general election on our hands, and I think the British public will show you that they don’t want you as you have lied to them, can you remember this poster?
False Promises
Mr. Cameron face facts, your days are numbered.
The Prime Minister will unveil a “listening exercise” intended to reassure the public, doctors and Coalition MPs that the NHS is not being privatised by the back door.
The initiative comes as Labour leader Ed Miliband raises the pressure over the planned reorganisation of the health service, telling Mr. Cameron in a speech on Monday to “go away and think again”.
Mr. Cameron, Nick Clegg, his Liberal Democrat deputy, and Andrew Lansley, the health secretary who is under fire over his handling of the policy, will explain the controversial plans to give power to new GP-led bodies and allow private firms to treat more NHS patients at a series of meetings.
They have been forced into the move after mounting criticism from health experts and politicians of all parties that the Health and Social Care Bill risks fragmenting the service and damaging care.
Officials have signalled that the Government is prepared to make some changes to the legislation to appease the Liberal Democrats, who voiced criticism at the party’s spring conference.
These include the dropping of a requirement to force GPs to take control of health budgets even if they do not want to. There will also be new protections so private firms cannot “cherry pick” the most lucrative work and better accountability for GP consortia.
Any changes are expected to be made during the Bill’s passage through the House of Lords in June after a three-month pause in the legislative process.
Liberal Democrat backbenchers will meet on Monday evening to discuss what they think Mr Clegg should ask for in his negotiations with senior Tory ministers.
The party’s activists have also drawn up a detailed list of more significant amendments they want made to the legislation, which goes even further than last month’s party conference motion in restricting the introduction of a free market in health, and are to demand that the Deputy Prime Minister secures them in discussion with the Prime Minister.
Evan Harris, a qualified doctor and former Lib Dem MP, said: “Lib Dem activists and members are encouraged that Nick Clegg and senior figures seem keen to assure us that the NHS reforms will be significantly amended as required by the Party, but the Conservatives need to understand that the problem will only be solved if the required changes are fully delivered.”
On Tuesday MPs on the Health Select Committee will issue a report likely to be critical of the contentious issue of GPs commissioning care under the new system, which is likely to suggest a further series of improvements to the legislation.
Sarah Wollaston, a former GP who is now a Conservative MP and sits on the select committee, said: “Unless this feels like something that’s embraced by the professions and patient groups you’re just going to have four years with people throwing rocks at it.”
Nigel Edwards, chief executive of the NHS Confederation which represents managers, said: “The issue is not whether to reform but how to go about it. It would not be right to plough on without taking action when there is a consensus that there are such major risks.”
But it appears unlikely the Bill will be ripped up. Several important changes to the health service are under way already, with hundreds of “pathfinder” GP groups now buying treatment and the Primary Care Trusts they will replace being merged ahead of their abolition.
Another fine mess
A Downing Street spokesman said: “The Government is utterly committed to the NHS and its principles. We are also committed to modernising the NHS. Progress on the ground continues to be impressive.
“We have always been prepared to listen, having already clarified that there is no question of privatisation and that competition will be based on quality, and will continue to do so.”
In his speech today, the Labour leader will say: “The NHS is too important for its future to be the result of a back-room deal which would then be bounced on MPs with precious little scope for proper debate let along public consultation. “That’s why today I say this, Mr. Cameron, go away and think again. Don’t come back with piecemeal changes. It’s a bad Bill, built on bad assumptions and dangerous ideology.
“If this plan to re-organise the NHS is going to be significantly changed – and it must be – let any new plan be the subject of a new White Paper and a new national consultation.”
