The former Labour Health Secretary Alan Milburn has said that the changes to NHS announced this week in the wake of demands from the Liberal Democrats and opposition from the health establishment represent a “disaster.” He warned that it means any chance of reforming the NHS meaningfully has been lost for a generation. George Osborne, the Chancellor, will now have to bail out the NHS with “a very large cheque” as the £20 billion of savings required will be impossible to find, he says.
Mr Milburn - who was a Cabinet Minister under Tony Blair and began many of the reforms Mr Cameron has claimed to be continuing - accuses the Prime Minister of “neglect” and Andrew Lansley, the Health secretary, of being “foolish”. He said, “The government’s health reforms are the biggest car crash in NHS history…The temptation to elevate short-term politics above long-term policy proved too much for both David Cameron and Nick Clegg. Many in both camps inside the Coalition consider the U-turn a triumph. But it has the makings of a policy disaster for the NHS and, maybe in time, a political disaster for the Government. It leaves both health policy and British politics in a very different place.”
Mr Milburn’s attack on the emasculated NHS Bill represents the most significant criticism from from a senior politician of any party.
Mr Cameron this Tuesday announced the plans to place health service commissioning power solely in the hands of GPs and increase private competition in the NHS. The Prime Minister announced all the core recommendations of the Future Forum would be adopted.
A Department of Health spokesman said, “Eight years ago Alan Milburn tried to reform the NHS but failed to deliver the progress necessary because he was blocked by Gordon Brown. Other former Labour health ministers - and many professional bodies - support these reforms as a necessary evolution. We can't afford to miss another opportunity to improve the NHS.”