Andrew Lansley 'pauses' progress of NHS reform bill: Miliband speech

Andrew Lansley 'pauses' progress of NHS reform bill: Miliband speech; - Abolishing the requirement to pay for care made a huge difference to patients, but we must al so recognize that it made a huge difference to clinicians, and their relationships with each other. It encouraged collaboration. A lot has been made of Julian Le Grand’s analysis of the Knights and Knaves of the public sector. He is right that we must not be naïve about the public realm. The state, if not accountable, can sometimes stand in the way of the interests those who depend on it. But if it is a mistake to be glib about our public servants, it is an even bigger mistake to be cynical about their motives to serve. One of the great assets of the NHS over some other healthcare systems is that this is an institution which fosters a sense of common endeavour and nobility of purpose. On a train recently, four medical students came up to me expressing deep distress about what they feared would happen to the health service. Their concern wasn’t about money. It wasn’t about whether they would get a job. It was a bout the values and sense of mission in the NHS. So I believe our reforms worked best when they strengthened the ability of those who work in the NHS, including those young people I met on the train, to serve people in need. Any effective reform must ensure collaboration continues alongside the right kind of competition. And it must strengthen the NHS ethos, not destroy it. This idea, of binding the NHS together in a framework of values focused on the patient, was behind the establishment by the last Labour government of an NHS constitution. And it is why, as we look forward to the future, we must be mindful of the impact which changes can have on the culture and ways of working which we have always taken for granted. So, it is on the basis of these three lessons from our past that I want to judge the proposals of David Cameron. There is considerable confusion, not least ...