NHS U-turn would be right choice – but for wrong reasons?

Ringing the changes: Jeremy Hunt, pictured a split-second before events proved there are TWO bell-ends in this image.

Ringing the changes: Jeremy Hunt, pictured a split-second before events proved there are TWO bell-ends in this image.

Fellow blogger Sam Bangert just published his latest article, in which he quotes reports in the Telegraph and the Guardian that the government is preparing to withdraw its new regulations that open up the NHS to “compulsory competitive markets”.

It seems that Statutory Instrument 257, that would have seen the demise of the English National Health Service as anything other than a brand name, may be scrapped before it has a chance to wreak the devastation that so many of us fear. That’s a good thing.

The regulations were being brought in under section 75 of the hated Health and Social Care Act 2012, under a process known as ‘negative resolution’. This meant there would be no debate or vote; they would become law 40 working days after they were introduced. In order to fight them, Labour MPs would have had to ‘lay a prayer’, calling for a debate to take place. If they are withdrawn willingly by the government, there’s no need for all that rigmarole.

But there is a very good reason for us to remain extremely suspicious about this affair.

This is not because it’s yet another government U-turn. Yes, we have the most indecisive, vacillating administration in recent British history, but at least in this instance it is doing the right thing.

Having heard Health questions in the House of Commons this morning, one has to wonder whether it is for the right reasons.

You see, comedy Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt, knocked back not one but two questions from Labour MPs on this very issue, claiming that the new regulations were nothing more than what Labour would have done.

From Hansard:

“Mr Jamie Reed (Copeland) (Lab): “The hon. Member for Ealing Central and Acton (Angie Bray) asked a key question. Under the secondary legislation being introduced by the Secretary of State under section 75 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012, local commissioning groups will be forced to allow private providers into the NHS. These private providers will be exempt from the Freedom of Information Act, which will make it harder for patients to compare data between providers. It cannot benefit NHS patients for core clinical services to be given to private providers that do not have to conform to the same standards of transparency as those in the NHS. Will the Secretary of State see reason, ensure a level playing field for the NHS and withdraw the section 75 regulations without delay?

“Jeremy Hunt: “Who exactly are the section-75 bogeymen that the hon. Gentleman hates: Whizz-Kids who are supplying services to disabled children in Tower Hamlets, or Mind, which is supplying psychological therapy to people in Middlesbrough? The reality is that those regulations are completely consistent with the procurement guidelines that his Government sent to primary care trusts. He needs to stop trying to pretend that we are doing something different from what his Government were doing when in fact we are doing exactly the same.”

Later in the same session, the following exchange took place:

“Paul Blomfield (Sheffield Central) (Lab): “On 13 March 2012, the former Secretary of State said of the Health and Social Care Bill:“There is absolutely nothing in the Bill that promotes or permits the transfer of NHS activities to the private sector.”—[Official Report, 13 March 2012; Vol. 542, c. 169.]However, the new NHS competition regulations break those promises by creating a requirement for almost all commissioning to be carried out through competitive markets, forcing privatisation through the back door, regardless of local will. Will the Secretary of State agree to make the regulations subject to a full debate and vote of both Houses?

“Jeremy Hunt: If the hon. Gentleman had listened to my previous answer, he would have heard that the regulations are consistent with the procurement guidelines that his own Government sent out to PCTs. It is not our job to be a champion for the private sector or the NHS sector; we want to be there to do the best job for patients. That is the purpose of the regulations.”

If one thing is perfectly clear from these exchanges, it is that the well-known Misprint was not going to be corrected!

Then, a matter of moments later, this happened:

“Andrew George (St Ives) (LD): “In spite of my right hon. Friend’s earlier comments, I am afraid that the regulation that implements section 75 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 does not maintain the assurances previously given and risks creating an NHS that is driven more by private pocket than concern for patient care. Will the Secretary of State please withdraw that regulation and take it back to the drawing board?”

“Norman Lamb, Minister of State, Department of Health: “We are looking at this extremely seriously. Clear assurances were given in the other place during the passage of the legislation, and it is important that they are complied with in the regulations.”

If you are re-reading that, thinking to yourself, “What just happened?”, you’re not the only one!

Mr George added nothing to what the Labour members had said – nothing at all. Yet Mr Lamb’s attitude was a complete, utter and ludicrous reversal of his Secretary of State’s.

He practically tugged his forelock and murmured, “Yes sir, koind master!”

Is this some ridiculous attempt to make it seem that the Coalition is still strongly united?

Is it some bid to show that, no matter what the result of the Eastleigh by-election, they’ll still be friends, working together “for the good of the country” (if anyone still believes that)?

At its lowest level, is it an attempt to show the Liberal Democrats that they are still relevant to British politics?

If so, then it should fail, precisely because the only points made by the Liberal Democrat member had previously been made by Labour.

If the Conservatives try to say the decision was changed because of the Lib Dems – as the Guardian seems determined to suggest – then we should laugh them out of the Commons chamber.

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15 Comments

  1. Tom (AAV) February 27, 2013 at 12:52 am - Reply

    As for the amendment under discussion, I find this statement from Andrew Lansley (former Health Secretary) rather interesting:

    “There is absolutely nothing in the Bill that promotes or permits the transfer of NHS activities to the private sector” 13 March 2012

    Are the Lib-Dems finally waking up to what the rest of the country knew all along? The Tories always lie about their intentions towards the NHS.

    They kept the keystone privatisation measure out of the bill, in order to con the Libs into supporting it, with the intention of shoving it through as an unnoticed amendment once all the fuss had died down.

    Well they’ve been well and truly caught out.

  2. Paul Smyth February 27, 2013 at 2:36 am - Reply

    Reblogged this on The Greater Fool.

  3. Jack Johnson February 27, 2013 at 2:45 am - Reply

    I wouldn’t trust the Tory lying bastards as far as I can throw one. The Fib Dems are
    either rent boys or gropers and don’t deserve to keep a single MP. Long live the
    free NHS, despite New Labour and the Tories.

  4. Duncan McLean (@A_D_McLean) February 27, 2013 at 7:15 am - Reply

    The omission from this post and from Tom (AAV)’s comment is presumably that there was no need for the Tories to put in place legislation “that promotes or permits the transfer of NHS activities to the private sector” – because it was already in place.

    This extract from the PCT procurement guide published by the last (Labour) Government makes this clear, including in this statement:

    “That the NHS will continue to remove potential barriers to the participation of non-NHS providers, including access to information systems”

    The attitude of the hierarchy of the Labour Party to private health providers can be seen from this list of the activities of former health ministers:

    Alan Milburn advises health-oriented private equity firm Bridgepoint Capital, which benefits from major NHS contracts

    Melanie Johnson, became an advisor to Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry

    Patricia Hewitt, became a consultant to Alliance Boots, and an adviser to investment firm Cinven, which bought BUPA’s hospitals

    Lord Darzi, advisor to GE Healthcare.

    Lord Warner is an adviser to Apax Partners – leading equity investors with an interest in healthcare

    Lord Warner’s comments are particularly revealing:

    “In future, the NHS will be a state insurance provider not a state deliverer”.

    and

    “The NHS will be shown no mercy and the best time to take advantage of this will be in the next couple of years.

    As Einstein is supposed to have said of Insanity – it is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Labour clearly believe that in 2015 they can fool enough people into believing yet again that a vote for Labour is a vote to protect the NHS. Fortunately, here in Scotland, voters no longer subscribe to this insanity.

    • Mike Sivier February 27, 2013 at 10:11 am - Reply

      Andy Burnham has stated that the New Labour attitude to the NHS will not be one that he would take forward; that private providers should not have been allowed into the system and that he would reverse the process.

      • Bill Kruse February 27, 2013 at 11:06 am - Reply

        I remain unconvinced. Given everything Cameron said prior to achieving power, I have difficulty believing politicians.

      • Duncan McLean (@A_D_McLean) February 27, 2013 at 1:06 pm - Reply

        Andy Burnham will not write the Labour manifesto, nor its spending plans.

        The two-Eded monster is just a continuation of the last Labour leadership a generation on, less talented, but just as ruthless and unprincipled. Burnham will either crumble or move out of the health portfolio.

        • Jack Johnson February 27, 2013 at 7:46 pm - Reply

          You have no evidence that what you are saying is true,pessimists are a
          a waste of effort.

      • Mike Sivier February 27, 2013 at 1:11 pm - Reply

        My gut instinct is that you are mistaken about Andy Burnham moving out of health. He is extremely popular there and the Labour leadership knows it would be a mistake to move him.

        Bear in mind also that Labour has made a firm commitment to repeal the Health and Social Care Act, in its entirety, if it wins in 2015. I don’t think there is any reason to doubt the resolve of its health team at this time.

        Remember, it is the Conservatives who have been the liars – all the way down the line.

        • Bill Kruse February 27, 2013 at 1:21 pm - Reply

          The Tories are actively seeking to get the privatisation of the NHS enshrined in International law. If they succeed, Andy Burnham won’t have the authority to repeal the Act. No-one’s discussing this aspect. Shouldn’t they be?

      • Mike Sivier February 27, 2013 at 1:24 pm - Reply

        I’m not familiar with that aspect, Bill. Can you point me to any information?

      • Bill Kruse February 27, 2013 at 4:21 pm - Reply

        “Furthermore, I would put no money on the European Parliament, let alone Parliament, being allowed access to even see the EU-US FTA negotiations. Neither the MPs or the MEPs were allowed to know the details when the EU signed up to the 1994 GATS treaty (5) and that treaty contained all the seeds of privatizing the NHS, social security and education that we are now seeing implemented by the Tory/LDs, and across the EU. This one would lock us in to even more stringent requirements.”
        http://think-left.org/2013/02/20/are-we-already-in-the-post-democratic-era/

    • Jack Johnson February 27, 2013 at 11:20 am - Reply

      We should be able to trust Andy Burnham, I wouldn’t trust any Tory Blairite
      as far as I could throw them, they were just Tory free marketeers in Labour
      clothing and anti social to the core.

  5. Thomas M February 27, 2013 at 4:25 pm - Reply

    The Lib Dems are dust when the next election comes around, no matter what happens to the Tories.

  6. Duncan McLean (@A_D_McLean) March 1, 2013 at 1:23 pm - Reply

    Jack Johnson

    I am very optimistic.

    I’m just not relying on either a Labour victory or that the current Labour leadership – all of whom were deeply embedded in the Blair/Brown/Bush disaster – have any interest in doing what the writer of this piece or the commentators would like to see done.

    In Scotland, we have a different choice ahead of us.

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