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NHS private sector climbdown a 'humiliating U-turn', says Labour NHS private sector climbdown a 'humiliating U-turn', says Labour
(35 minutes later)
Ministers have been forced into a humiliating climbdown on plans for more private sector involvement in the NHS just four weeks before they were due to come into effect.Ministers have been forced into a humiliating climbdown on plans for more private sector involvement in the NHS just four weeks before they were due to come into effect.
Labour has labelled the announcement that key regulations on competition in the NHS are to be rewritten a "humiliating U-turn" for the government, which has for nearly three years insisted that the Health and Social Care Act passed last year does not create privatisation by stealth.Labour has labelled the announcement that key regulations on competition in the NHS are to be rewritten a "humiliating U-turn" for the government, which has for nearly three years insisted that the Health and Social Care Act passed last year does not create privatisation by stealth.
The decision, announced by Liberal Democrat health minister Norman Lamb, follows a long campaign by Labour and other activiists against the bill and in particular the clauses on privatisation, including a petition mounted by lobby group 38 Degrees which gathered more than 600,000 signatures. The decision, announced by Liberal Democrat health minister Norman Lamb on Tuesday, follows intense lobbying over two weeks since the controversial regulations were introduced under section 75 of the act. Critics had accused Jeremy Hunt's health department of attempting to introduce "privatisation by the back door" despite previous assurances – mainly to rebellious Lib Dem coalition partners – that the act would not pre-empt a wholesale privatisation of the NHS.
Responding to an urgent question in the House of Commons from Labour about the clauses on private competition in the NHS, known as "section 75 regulations", Lamb said the government did not accept the critics claims of wholesale privatisation, but offered to rewrite key parts of the bill "to remove any doubt". Responding to an urgent question in the House of Commons from Labour about the clauses on private competition in the NHS, Lamb said the government did not accept critics' claims of wholesale privatisation, but offered to rewrite key parts of the regulations "to remove any doubt".
Those sections being amended include clauses to make it clear that clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) of GPs who are due to shortly take oversight of patient care will decide when and how competition should be sought; clearer rules about the exceptional circumstances when only one organisation can tender for a service without competition for the contract; assurances that CCGs do not have to tender all services, and cannot be forced to by the regulator, Monitor; and an insistence that competition must not be at the expense of "integration and co-operation". Those sections being amended include clauses to make it clear that clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) of GPs, who are due to shortly take oversight of patient care, will decide when and how competition should be sought; clearer rules about the exceptional circumstances when only one organisation can tender for a service without competition for the contract; assurances that CCGs do not have to tender all services, and cannot be forced to by the regulator, Monitor; and an insistence that competition must not be at the expense of "integration and co-operation".
In all cases, the regulations would be based on standards adopted by the previous Labour government, when the now shadow health secretary Andy Burnham was in charge of the health department, said Lamb.In all cases, the regulations would be based on standards adopted by the previous Labour government, when the now shadow health secretary Andy Burnham was in charge of the health department, said Lamb.
"The regulations must be fully in line with the assurances given to this house during the passage of the health and social care act," he said. "The regulations must be fully in line with the assurances given to this House during the passage of the Health and Social Care Act," he said.
Responding for Labour, Burnham said that four weeks before CCGs were due to take over coalition policy on competition was "in utter chaos". Responding for Labour, Burnham said coalition policy on competition was "in utter chaos" four weeks before CCGs were due to take over.
"It beggars belief that almost three years after the white paper and the upheaval inflicted on the NHS there's still no clarity on policy today," said Burnham. "Why on earth did he bring forward a 300-page bill? The truth is they have been found trying to sneak through privatisations through the backdoor.""It beggars belief that almost three years after the white paper and the upheaval inflicted on the NHS there's still no clarity on policy today," said Burnham. "Why on earth did he bring forward a 300-page bill? The truth is they have been found trying to sneak through privatisations through the backdoor."
Stephen Dorrell, the Conservative chairman of the health select committee, which has been critical of the bill in the past, said that the government's clarification "demonstrates that the cloud of rhetoric that surrounded the passage of the health and social care act was so much hot air". Stephen Dorrell, the Conservative chairman of the health select committee, which has been critical of the act in the past, said the government's clarification "demonstrates that the cloud of rhetoric that surrounded the passage of the Health and Social Care Act was so much hot air".
Mocking the coalition, Labour MP Gisela Stuart said: "Just to be clear, the regulations we now have are the regulations inherited from the labour government?". Lamb denied this was the case, saying the act made other changes such as putting "clinicians" in charge of the NHS, and "putting the interests of patients" at the heart of the health service. Mocking the coalition, Labour MP Gisela Stuart said: "Just to be clear, the regulations we now have are the regulations inherited from the Labour government?" Lamb denied this was the case, saying the act made other changes such as putting "clinicians" in charge of the NHS, and "putting the interests of patients" at the heart of the health service.
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