rosiemus
Do you think the Lib Dems have genuinely managed to improve the NHS bill? Sometimes I worry you're making concerned noises but not improving what seems like a pretty unpopular piece of government work. Thank you
Thank you for the question Rosiemus. Again, there are a lot of postings in this thread about different aspects of the bill itself, and a lot about the politics of the bill. Perhaps I could pull a few of those questions together and try to answer them now.
The Bill is about improving quality of care and the results for patients and carers. The reform is all about using the expertise of health professionals and the experience of patients and carers to inform the way services are designed and delivered in the future.
The Bill safeguards a comprehensive health service, free at point of use.
Much of the reporting of the Bill is a cocktail of scaremongering and flawed analysis and completely misleading conclusions.
The Bill will not lead to a market-led NHS, it will lead to a patient-led NHS.
Rosiemus, as I'm sure you know, the Bill is currently in the House of Lords, where peers of all parties have been scrutinising it for months. They are now debating and voting on changes to improve theBill. Many of those changes are the result of hard work by Liberal Democrat peers, such as Shirley Williams.
If I thought the Bill did half of the lies and half-truths that have been spread against it, I would not support it.
In fact the Bill will strengthen the Secretary of State's accountability to parliament. For the first time, he will have to consult on and seek parliamentary approval for the priorities he sets on the NHS.
The Bill will for the first time ever will require the NHS to tackle health inequalities. It will also make joined-up care within the NHS and within social care the driving force for quality care.
Not only does the Bill strengthen local accountability to make sure that services actually fit the needs of the local population, it also returns responsibility for public health to councils, where many of the actions to prevent ill-health in the first place can be taken.
Can I urge those asking about mandates to take a look at both the 2010 Lib Dem and 2010 Conservative manifestos, they might be surprised at what they find there.