Ministers face a rebellion in the House of Lords over their plans for reform of the NHS, a founder of the Social Democratic Party warned yesterday, as he called for Andrew Lansley to be sacked.
Lord Owen, a former Labour health minister, said the Government’s plans to give control of budgets to family doctors displayed “staggering ineptitude” and could destroy the relationship between patients and doctors.
With Ed Miliband preparing to make the reform an issue in Labour’s local election campaign, Mr Lansley hit back against his critics, saying he would press ahead with the plans despite the protest from “vested interests”.
Lord Owen, a former doctor, said the Coalition did not have a mandate for reform plans as they were not mentioned in either Conservative or Liberal Democrat manifestos. “The House of Lords is therefore entitled to make substantial changes to this Health and Social Care Bill,” he said.
He is demanding that the Bill be referred to a Lords Committee for scrutiny and that “substantive amendments” should be passed by the upper house to sections which would see competition for NHS services opened up to more private providers.
Advertisement
The Bill ended its committee stage in the Commons yesterday, and Lord Owen said that when it reaches the House of Lords in May, “substantive amendments” would be needed.
David Cameron and and Nick Clegg are believed to be considering major changes to the reform plans, after a rebellion from Liberal Democrat activists and criticism from the British Medical Association and other unions.
Yesterday, Labour stepped up its attack on the reforms, with Mr Miliband writing to Mr Cameron to ask for a series of changes to stop GPs profiting from referring patients for cheaper care and to protect the NHS from EU competition law.
“The future of our NHS should be decided based on what is right for patients, not last-minute horse-trading between parties in Westminster” he said.
However, Mr Lansley is standing firm behind the principle of putting GPs in charge of budgets, saying it would lead to better and more more responsive care for patients.
Advertisement
“We expected some concern around our modernisation plans. Resistance to change is inevitable. Vested interests fight the loss of power. But we will transfer power to patients and front-line NHS staff. We will enhance local accountability, and we firmly believe that as money is reinvested in patient services instead of bureaucracy, and as patients get more personalised care, we will have achieved our aim of sustaining the NHS for future generations,” he wrote in a letter to The Times.
Health unions will today stage a series of protests against the Bill at hospitals and MPs’ offices across the country. Dave Prentis, General Secretary of Unison, said: “The groundswell of opposition to the Health and Social Care Bill just keeps on growing. The Bill has put the Lib Dems at a crossroads. If they are party to the break-up and privatisation of the NHS, the electorate will not forgive them.”