Agencies/London


Ed Miliband speaks with play services manager Irene O’Donnell, during his visit to University College hospital in London yesterday
Labour leader Ed Miliband yesterday slammed the government’s plans to reform the NHS in England, saying the policy had descended into “utter confusion and chaos”.
The Health and Social Care Bill, which would place GPs in control of commissioning most health services, is “a bad bill, built on bad assumptions and dangerous ideology”, Miliband said in a speech in London. “It is an insult to the people who work in the health service. It is an insult to the people who use the health service,” he added.
The controversial Bill would abolish primary care trusts, which currently oversee the buying of services and decide how to spend £80bn - around 80% of the NHS budget, to consortia of GPs.
A poll by the Royal College of GPs in February found that more then half of the 1,800 doctors questioned did not agree with the reforms.
Labour’s latest assault on the reforms comes as David Cameron and Nick Clegg prepare to launch a “listening exercise” later this week in a bid to pacify critics.
The Labour leader said his party was willing to work with the coalition if it agreed to modify the proposals.
“If there is a genuine attempt to address the weaknesses of the Tory reorganisation proposal then my party will enter into a debate about a new plan with an open mind, accepting that any NHS plan must be delivered within a tight spending settlement,” he said.
Miliband added that after “sustained and substantial improvement” under Labour the NHS is suffering because of desperate “horse trading” between the coalition partners. “I believe David Cameron is betraying the trust he asked the public to put in him at the election,” Miliband said.
“The way this Conservative-led government has gone about NHS reform is a disgrace. There have been contradictory briefings to the newspapers from Tory sources, from Treasury sources, from health department sources and - in case we forgot - from the LibDems.
“Each one adding to the sense of utter confusion and chaos about a Bill that has completed its committee stage of the House of Commons. It is bad government. It is not how the future of the health service should be determined.”
Miliband added: “It is an insult to the people who work in the health service, it is an insult to the people who use it and the prime minister should be ashamed of the way he is running the NHS, the proudest institution of Britain. He is treating those who have spent eight months uncertain about their jobs and their future with utter contempt.”
A Downing Street spokesman said: “The government is utterly committed to the NHS and its principles. We are also committed to modernising the NHS. Progress on the ground continues to be impressive. The speculation is ill-informed and filled with inaccuracies. The Bill has now successfully finished committee stage in the Commons and there is a natural break before it moves to the Lords.
“We have always been prepared to listen, having already clarified that there is no question of privatisation and that competition will be based on quality, and will continue to do so.”
The Bill still has several parliamentary stages to clear before it becomes law. The government argues that the plans will improve patient care and efficiency, as well as saving the NHS £1.7bn a year.
Concerns have been growing about a public backlash against the flagship Bill, with doctors lining up to criticise key elements.