David Cameron told to abandon "unwanted" NHS reform
Thursday 26th January 2012
Prime minister David Cameron should forget about an NHS reform, according to Labour leader Ed Miliband.
He told MPs at Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons that the Health and Social Care Bill was "unnecessary and unwanted".
He labelled the premier as "arrogant" and added that nobody wanted the Bill to be passed. "It's opposed by the doctors, the nurses, the patients," added Mr Miliband.
In what turned into something of a name-calling session, the Labour leader was branded weak and incompetent, with Mr Cameron being told that he was suffering from "smug complacency" and "total arrogance".
Despite Mr Miliband's claims, Mr Cameron said that thousands of GPs up and down the country were supportive of the plans. He also defended the coalition government and added that, since it came into power, 4,000 extra NHS doctors were in place, while 100,000 more patients had been treated.
This also led to in-patient and out-patient waiting times being cut in the last 18 months or so.
Mr Miliband retorted that the government was "out of touch" with the health service, with 98 per cent of GPs hoping for the Bill to be scrapped and he urged the prime minister to listen to their union's views.
The face-off in Prime Minister's Questions came after a report from the Health Select Committee claimed that plans for an overhaul were preventing the NHS from making vital savings which will help to ensure its future.
Short-term cuts were described as "salami-slicing", while it was found that some local authorities were restricting access to services.
"The priority is to deliver more efficient care, in order to meet demands placed upon the system - and the implementation of the bill has to fit in around that," said chair of the committee and former Conservative health secretary Stephen Dorrell.
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Written by Megan Smith
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