Andrew Gwynne MP - | Cameron’s NHS Plans in Further Disarray

Cameron’s NHS Plans in Further Disarray

The Prime Minister has faced a fresh blow as the people he is placing at the centre of his reforms, GPs, said his plans ‘will cause irreparable damage to the core values of the NHS’.

Dr Clare Gerada, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, which represents 42,000 family doctors made her comments in the middle of the Prime Minister’s so called “listening exercise” on his troubled reforms.

Andrew Gwynne MP said:

“The Prime Minister says he is willing to listen. Well, he should listen to the people he is placing at the centre of these reforms. GPs are saying loud and clear his plans will fragment patient care and cause irreparable damage to the core values of the NHS.”

Shadow Health Secretary, John Healey said:

"This is a red card for David Cameron's NHS plans and reinforces Labour's warnings. From competition law to charging patients, GPs are making it clear they don't want the Tories' free market NHS, and the prime minister must now make radical changes to his health plans in order to regain the trust of NHS professionals."

However, the “listening exercise” itself was thrown into question at Prime Ministers Questions when Ed Miliband asked the Prime Minister why the NHS Chief Executive, Sir David Nicholson, had written to NHS staff, after the “listening exercise” had begun, to say the timeline for implementing the reforms “remains unchanged”.

Leader of the Labour Party, Ed Miliband said:

"The Prime Minister has been found out. This ‘listening exercise’ is simply a PR stunt. Doctors and nurses were already sceptical about whether this was a genuine consultation and this letter from the Department of Health shows they may have pressed the pause button on the legislation in Parliament, but on the ground they are ploughing ahead with their top down reorganisation.”