Today, the Health Bill is being debated in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Rumours are growing that the Government plan to make the Bill law a week today.

If we are going to stop this Bill we need you to take action over the next few days.

We are asking campaigners like you to volunteer to make some noise in your local constituencies this weekend (17th and 18th March), and help put pressure on our MPs before the Bill goes through.

Could you organise a photo op outside your MP’s office, or hand out some leaflets in your High Street?

http://www.nhsalert.org.uk/calltoaction

You can download everything you need to take part, from leaflets to petitions and posters.

David Cameron likes to talk about the Big Society - well, we are the Big Society, and if we want to stop this Health Bill from becoming law next week, then we need to get active in our constituencies this weekend.

Will you play your part?

http://www.nhsalert.org.uk/calltoaction

Together, we can send a message to our MPs and to the Government that the public will never forgive them if they destroy our NHS.

Health professionals, patients and the public all want to stop Cameron’s Health Bill. The House of Lords are still debating it, and it has to go back to our MPs in the Commons before it becomes law.

That’s why, on Wednesday (March 7th, at 6pm), there will be a massive rally to save our NHS, right opposite Parliament. Together, we’re going to send the strongest possible message to Cameron and Clegg that they need to start listening, and drop this Health Bill.

Will you join me at the rally?

http://www.nhsalert.org.uk/jointherally

Those who work in the NHS, and those who use it will gather in Central London to call on this Government to think again.

And, if you can’t make it to the rally in person, you can sign up to join us online. We’ll be asking those who can’t get to London to tune in for a webcast of the live event, and to make as much noise online as you can. Tweet about it, blog and comment about it, or share it on social networks. We can get the internet buzzing in a way the government can’t ignore.

http://www.nhsalert.org.uk/jointherally

We have to keep the pressure up on Cameron over his Health Bill. Together, we can send him a message that the public won’t stand by while he destroys the NHS we know and love.

The government has already tried to dismiss similar calls by the British Medical Association, Royal College of Nursing and Royal College of Midwives.

Concerns from these previous bodies, all three of these are unions, prompted the government to suggest they were motivated by the dispute over pay and pensions – however the RCGP is part of the professional arm of the health service which sets standards.

The significance of the RCGP’s call for the bill to be scrapped because GPs are widely thought of as one of the main beneficiaries of the reforms, as they are supposed to get more control over how NHS funds are spent.

It is highly expected now that the entire medical royal college community will come out en masse to oppose the plans.

In March, Health Secretary Andrew Lansley is to face a hearing where the Information Commissioner will seek to force the Minister to release a secret government report on the risks of the NHS reforms.

The RCGP is the largest body of GPs in the UK, and with over 44,000 members (33,837 in England), and is also the largest medical royal college.

Over 90% of GP’s also said that they either strongly supported (55.8%) or supported (37.0 per cent) the College in proceeding in calling for the Bill’s withdrawal; even without being part of a joint effort with the other Royal Colleges.

Dr Aseem Malhotra wrote in a recent article in the Guardian that “There should be absolutely no illusion that we are being led towards an Americanised system of healthcare.”

Fewer than 14 per cent of respondents said that they believed the reforms would result in better patient care.

In a pre-election promise to the public, David Cameron stated that there "would be no top down reorganisation of the NHS". With the majority of doctors, nurses and the public being overwhelmingly against it, the only support for this Bill is from the top- of the Tory Party.

*You can read more about the survey results here: http://www.rcgp.org.uk/news/press_releases_and_statements/health_bill_survey_results.aspx.

Our health service was founded on a vital principle – that healthcare should be available to all, regardless of ability to pay.

David Cameron’s Health Bill undermines that founding principle, and risks destroying the NHS that we know and love, by changing the rules so that hospitals can earn up to half their income from treating private patients – even if it means that NHS patients have to wait longer for their treatment

Will you write to your MP now, and ask them to support the motion tonight?

http://www.nhsalert.org.uk/weneedyourhelp

Despite promising to “protect the NHS”, Cameron’s health cuts are already starting to bite in hospitals across the country.

If the Health Bill goes ahead, cash-strapped NHS hospitals will find it hard to say no to treating more and more private patients in order to raise money, even if that means waiting lists getting longer and longer for those people who can’t afford to pay for treatment.

Quite simply, those people who can afford to go private will be able to jump the queue, whilst everybody else has to go to the back of an ever-growing waiting list.

Even the Government’s own impact assessment says there is “a risk that private patients may be prioritised above NHS patients resulting in a growth in waiting lists and waiting times for NHS patients”

Take two minutes now to write to your MP and ask them to support the motion tonight.

http://www.nhsalert.org.uk/weneedyourhelp

This Bill isn’t law yet – we need to make sure our MPs and the Government know how strongly we oppose it.

Yesterday, children across the country opened the first window in their advent calendars, starting the countdown to Christmas.

But we want to mark the countdown in another way - by sending David Cameron a message that all we want for Christmas is our NHS.

Cameron’s Health Bill, the Bill that will rip apart our Health Service, is still making its way through the House of Lords. Our fight to stop this Bill is far from over: Labour Lords are making a strong stand against it, and it still needs to go back to all our MPs to be debated before it can become law.

But if we want to defeat this Bill, we have to keep up the pressure on the man who is responsible. That’s why we’re going to deliver ‘Health-Scrooge’ Cameron a big Christmas card from all of us, saying: all we want for Christmas is our NHS. Will you sign the card?

http://www.nhsalert.org.uk/signthecard

Cameron’s Tories, backed up by the Lib Dems, are putting our NHS at risk. Their cuts mean that people are already waiting longer for the treatment they need, and they are wasting billions of pounds on a top-down restructure that will mean:

• worse patient care with services cut, hospitals closing and longer waiting times for treatment

• more privatisation and more companies making money from all parts of our health service

• more red tape making it harder for nurses, doctors and other health professionals to do their jobs

David Cameron promised to ‘protect the NHS’, to ‘give the NHS a real rise in funding’ and to ‘stop top-down NHS reorganisations’. He is breaking every one of those promises – you just can’t trust the Tories with the NHS.

Join thousands of other people in sending ‘Health-Scrooge’ Cameron a Christmas message - all we want for Christmas is our NHS. Sign the card today:

http://www.nhsalert.org.uk/signthecard

This Christmas, we want a gift that matters to everybody - a National Health Service that puts patient care before private profit.

Helen

PS. If you have 2 minutes to spare, why not sign the Government e-petition calling on Cameron to drop the Health Bill? http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/22670

“This Bill needs serious scrutiny and improvement” – Viscount Eccles (Conservative)

Indeed.

If it were not so ironic it could be reassuring: during the course of the House of Lords second reading of the health and social care bill almost every Lord or Baroness who spoke referred to the need to amend the bill in one way or another.

That included the government lead, Earl Howe (Conservative), who, with Glenys Thornton (Labour) for the opposition, sat through 17 hours of debate over Tuesday and Wednesday, along with the added wild card of the redoubtable Lord Owen (Crossbench), the former Labour health minister finding himself dragged back into the health arena from his usual foreign affairs dealings by his own genuine alarm about Tory health secretary Andrew Lansley’s stated aim to dismantle the NHS.

To say the proceedings had edge would be the parliamentary understatement of the decade.

The throne glinted in the candlelight and the watching cobwebs hung from the towering gothic rafters. On the following morning the bishops would be out in force in their flowing robes. History in action.

Twelve hours into the debate and Baroness Angela Smith (Labour) softly and clearly read out the damning list: just in the past week, 400 practicing medical professionals had written a letter of protest to The Times, 60 more, including the general secretary of the RCM, to The Independent; 100,000 people had signed a 38 Degrees petition in support of Lord Owen’s amendments in the past day (which visibly perked up His Lordship and raised a sotto voce late night cheer)… And so the list went on.

As Baroness Scotland (Labour) said in her graceful speech on the following morning, this was a debate for the whole country - she even spoke of ‘feeling the love’ for the NHS. Lords whose speeches will now forever be engraved in history stood to speak with passion, concern and learning.

Ninety-year-old Lord Walton (Crossbench), with decades of NHS upheavals as a point of reference, offered a show stopping speech. He had earlier told me he had received around 3oo letters and emails with not a single one in favour of the bill.

Now to Lords Monks (Labour) and Harris (Labour):

“What if a CCG fails?… What if the GPs are not up to it?… Also, what if they insist on managing treatment within practice to detriment of patients?”

The Haxby HGB example was repeatedly flagged up as a telling tale of GPs bringing in fees for small procedures which allegedly “fell outside the NHS”.

Time and time again, speakers reiterated it was the wrong bill at the wrong time, with £20 billion savings targets; that such a massive upheaval, ‘galloping in the external market’, was not needed and would cause irreparable damage; and that there is pressing need to build upon current expertise rather than risk losing it, a fact even spoken of by some Tories.

Predictably, the lack of mandate and Lansley “shrinking his role when expanding the role of the market” was flagged up ad infinitum - to which the alarmed Earl Freddie Howe (Conservative) surreally revolved the post-election ‘consultation period’ backwards into a subliminal pre-election alert. One noble Lord’s observation the government is “losing the plot” seemed to be entirely in order.

The designated role of Monitor being an overall threat to the NHS due to a lack of accountability and lack of transparency was spoken of best by Baroness Helena Kennedy (Labour) - it is entirely crucial. Entrepreneurial Lord Whitty (Labour) economically perceived the “rationale re: cost saving is no longer clear”, and equally crucially that it was quite “unclear what anti-competitive behaviour would be”.

From Baroness Barker (Liberal Democrat), oh yes, “accountability is of great concern - also upholding standards”. However, she then told Lord Owen (almost wringing her hands with the effort) that no, she would not be supporting his proposal. His Lordship glowered from his cross bench and she sat to fold her arms in defensive fashion, clearly desperate for the overnight moment when Paddy Pants would come and rescue her from serial bombardment on the morrow.

There was much concern about the lack of independence of HealthWatch - and insufficient attention to its advocacy role:

“…which is so much more than outlined in the Bill.”

Lord Victor Adebowale (Crossbench) asked if health inequality would improve as a result; his next point more than inferred an answer in the negative when he voiced great concerns for the needs of those with complex and multiple conditions which ‘the tarriff’ avoids at these patients’ peril. Treatments and care packages “that don’t happen due to those that are left out” - the bill does not show it and it must!

The threat to childrens’ services and the loss of all the gains under “every child matters”, including much concern regarding lack of provision for cared-for children, speech and language specialists, and provision for autism.

Said Baroness Massey (Labour):

“The voice of the child must be heard.”

The danger of unregistered carers was a running theme, and Baroness Joan Bakewell (Labour) spoke eloquently about the threat to the care of the elderly - reiterated by others who have concerns about the relationship with local authorities and funding issues, plus a need for more details regarding community care development - although Tory Lord Lucas wanted more details on how people “would look after their own”. Touché!

We were told the treatment of armed forces personnel needs more attention, a point missed by Lord Ashdown (Liberal Democrat), who was notably absent throughout all but the final minutes, to act as nemesis to his old sparring partner from the days of the gang of four.

Many cited the urgent need to safeguard our long tradition of medical training and research, while Lord MacKenzie (Labour) asked for more emphasis on developing clinical leadership in hospitals.

Personal stories were used to illustrate both the value of and threat to our NHS.

Hereditary peers who tend to fall below our collective radar popped up – Earl Clancarty (Crossbench) spoke movingly of his daughter’s care and then the Earl Listowel (Crossbench) said:

“We need to show staff support, for they cannot show support and kindness unless they experience it themself.”

Baroness Royall (Labour) spoke bravely of her personal experience with her late husband’s cancer care, fearing for the future of other patients; Lord Bill Morris (Labour), in what almost felt like a eulogy, spoke wistfully of a service publicly owned and publicly funded; Lord Crisp (Crossbench) then lamented the:

“…wasted opportunity; instead it will be all about commercial contracts, not about securing quality cost.”

Lord Collins (Labour) stood at 12:20 am to explore the threat to public health provision and co-ordination. The loss of expertise and safeguards for HIV specialists and the threat to established integrated care for chronic conditions - a view shared by Diabetes UK. Let us not forget that in the background there were myriad patients’ groups hanging onto every word.

Sadly, we now know the result. Liberal Democrats who chose to ignore the wise words of Shirley slithered their way into the discontents and she seemingly didn’t vote at all. Those Tories who regretted the bill had tended to rationalise their support for it by expressing the view that matters had gone too far to change direction. More evidence, if any were needed, that “this House has been taken for granted”, as Lord Monks had admonished.

The rueful walk of Lord Winston (Labour) towards the tellers’ bench and the rows of empty opposition seats told us all we needed to know.

It’s worth mentioning here how many have links to private health.

Mr Lansley’s aim to ‘do it quick’ has gathered the pace and dragged the legislation behind it, after months of epic campaigning and an increasing clamour of professional and patient voices - to the point where it would seem only a very small percentage of the population have any faith at all in the contorted and contrived bill. The hour came when the chance of rescuing the NHS from the brink of extinction had gone.

As one shadow front bench member afterwards told me, from now on it will be ‘trench warfare’. All we can now hope for is the sensible addition of amendments which will safeguard as much of the service as possible, but with such a short time to consider all of these points (yet another paltry 10-day allocation) this will need to be an all guns blazing approach indeed.

One Labour Lord asked:

“How does the high sounding rhetoric match up to the reality?”

Here’s the thing - one of the saddest results of this week of anti-history, where so much of what we have learned has been thrown away onto a Lansley pyre, is the palpable sense our Parliament has become considerably more removed from the people it was meant to serve. We cried out to you so very loudly, my Lords; why did not more of you listen?

That is the reality.

Following on from the success of our September 'Big NHS Weekend', when union and Labour members campaigned together in 100 constituencies across the country, we've now set dates for October, November and December.

The dates will be:

• October 8th and 9th
• November 13th and 14th
• December 10th and 11th

If you want to run a 'Big NHS Weekend' in your constituency, you can download campaign materials here. Make sure you get in touch with your local Labour Party and with local trade unions to ensure everyone's involved. You could run a street stall in your town centre, get people to collect petition signatures outside the hospital, or present your Tory or Lib Dem MP with the 'golden bedpan' award for voting to destroy our NHS (make sure you invite the local paper!).

Last week, Shadow Health Secretary John Healey, accused David Cameron of railroading the Health Bill through Parliament. It is now clear that Nick Clegg, faced with real opposition by some of his MPs and party activists, is now doing what he can to railroad a debate on this unpopular bill through his party conference.

Only two days had been allocated to debate this huge Bill that will have such an impact on the Health Service we know and love. Labour MPs spoke out again and again against the measures, explaining that they believe these so-called reforms are wasting millions of pounds on structural changes that will mean worse patient care, more privatisation and more red tape.

But the Tory-Lib Dem Coalition has an in-built majority - and only 4 Lib Dem MPs rebelled and voted against the Bill, meaning it passed with 316 votes for, and 251 against.

The next step is that the Bill will go to the House of Lords for further debate. We now have to put as much pressure as possible on members of the House of Lords, making it clear that they need to give this Bill the scrutiny it deserves - and not pass it on the nod in two days like the Tories and Lib Dems in the Commons. We need to explain to them what we think is wrong about the Bill, and why they need to reject it completely.

That's why we're supporting the TUC's 'adopt a peer' campaign. Sign up now, and help with the campaign by volunteering to email and lobby the peer you adopt. Click here to adpot a peer.

This is the list of how MPs voted on the 3rd Reading of the Bill last night. Check how your MP voted (the 'Ayes' voted in favour of Cameron's Bill, the 'Noes' voted to stop Cameron's Bill). You might want to get in touch with your MP to say thanks for voting against it, or to ask them why they voted for it.

AYES

Adams, Nigel

Afriyie, Adam

Alexander, rh Danny

Amess, Mr David

Arbuthnot, rh Mr James

Bacon, Mr Richard

Baker, Norman

Baker, Steve

Baldry, Tony

Baldwin, Harriett

Barclay, Stephen

Barwell, Gavin

Beith, rh Sir Alan

Bellingham, Mr Henry

Benyon, Richard

Beresford, Sir Paul

Berry, Jake

Binley, Mr Brian

Birtwistle, Gordon

Blackman, Bob

Blackwood, Nicola

Blunt, Mr Crispin

Boles, Nick

Bone, Mr Peter

Bradley, Karen

Brady, Mr Graham

Brake, rh Tom

Bray, Angie

Brazier, Mr Julian

Bridgen, Andrew

Brine, Mr Steve

Brokenshire, James

Bruce, Fiona

Buckland, Mr Robert

Burley, Mr Aidan

Burns, Conor

Burns, rh Mr Simon

Burrowes, Mr David

Burstow, Paul

Burt, Lorely

Byles, Dan

Cable, rh Vince

Cairns, Alun

Cameron, rh Mr David

Campbell, rh Sir Menzies

Carmichael, rh Mr Alistair

Carmichael, Neil

Carswell, Mr Douglas

Chishti, Rehman

Chope, Mr Christopher

Clappison, Mr James

Clark, rh Greg

Clarke, rh Mr Kenneth

Clegg, rh Mr Nick

Clifton-Brown, Geoffrey

Coffey, Dr Thérèse

Collins, Damian

Colvile, Oliver

Cox, Mr Geoffrey

Crabb, Stephen

Crockart, Mike

Crouch, Tracey

Davey, Mr Edward

Davies, Glyn

Davies, Philip

de Bois, Nick

Djanogly, Mr Jonathan

Dorrell, rh Mr Stephen

Doyle-Price, Jackie

Drax, Richard

Duddridge, James

Duncan, rh Mr Alan

Duncan Smith, rh Mr Iain

Dunne, Mr Philip

Ellis, Michael

Ellison, Jane

Ellwood, Mr Tobias

Eustice, George

Evans, Graham

Evans, Jonathan

Evennett, Mr David

Fabricant, Michael

Fallon, Michael

Field, Mr Mark

Foster, rh Mr Don

Fox, rh Dr Liam

Francois, rh Mr Mark

Freeman, George

Freer, Mike

Fullbrook, Lorraine

Fuller, Richard

Garnier, Mr Edward

Garnier, Mark

Gauke, Mr David

Gibb, Mr Nick

Gilbert, Stephen

Gillan, rh Mrs Cheryl

Glen, John

Goldsmith, Zac

Goodwill, Mr Robert

Gove, rh Michael

Graham, Richard

Grant, Mrs Helen

Grayling, rh Chris

Green, Damian

Greening, Justine

Grieve, rh Mr Dominic

Griffiths, Andrew

Gummer, Ben

Gyimah, Mr Sam

Hague, rh Mr William

Halfon, Robert

Hames, Duncan

Hammond, rh Mr Philip

Hammond, Stephen

Hancock, Matthew

Hands, Greg

Harper, Mr Mark

Harrington, Richard

Harris, Rebecca

Hart, Simon

Harvey, Nick

Haselhurst, rh Sir Alan

Hayes, Mr John

Heald, Oliver

Heath, Mr David

Heaton-Harris, Chris

Hemming, John

Henderson, Gordon

Herbert, rh Nick

Hinds, Damian

Hoban, Mr Mark

Hollingbery, George

Hollobone, Mr Philip

Hopkins, Kris

Howarth, Mr Gerald

Howell, John

Hughes, rh Simon

Huhne, rh Chris

Hunt, rh Mr Jeremy

Hurd, Mr Nick

Jackson, Mr Stewart

James, Margot

Javid, Sajid

Jenkin, Mr Bernard

Johnson, Gareth

Johnson, Joseph

Jones, Andrew

Jones, Mr David

Kawczynski, Daniel

Kelly, Chris

Kirby, Simon

Knight, rh Mr Greg

Kwarteng, Kwasi

Laing, Mrs Eleanor

Lamb, Norman

Lancaster, Mark

Lansley, rh Mr Andrew

Latham, Pauline

Laws, rh Mr David

Leadsom, Andrea

Lee, Jessica

Lee, Dr Phillip

Leech, Mr John

Lefroy, Jeremy

Leigh, Mr Edward

Leslie, Charlotte

Letwin, rh Mr Oliver

Lewis, Brandon

Lewis, Dr Julian

Liddell-Grainger, Mr Ian

Lidington, rh Mr David

Lilley, rh Mr Peter

Lloyd, Stephen

Lopresti, Jack

Lord, Jonathan

Loughton, Tim

Luff, Peter

Macleod, Mary

Main, Mrs Anne

Maude, rh Mr Francis

May, rh Mrs Theresa

Maynard, Paul

McCartney, Jason

McCartney, Karl

McIntosh, Miss Anne

McLoughlin, rh Mr Patrick

McPartland, Stephen

McVey, Esther

Mensch, Louise

Menzies, Mark

Mercer, Patrick

Metcalfe, Stephen

Mills, Nigel

Milton, Anne

Mitchell, rh Mr Andrew

Moore, rh Michael

Mordaunt, Penny

Morgan, Nicky

Morris, Anne Marie

Morris, David

Morris, James

Mosley, Stephen

Mowat, David

Munt, Tessa

Murray, Sheryll

Murrison, Dr Andrew

Neill, Robert

Newmark, Mr Brooks

Newton, Sarah

Nokes, Caroline

Norman, Jesse

Nuttall, Mr David

O'Brien, Mr Stephen

Offord, Mr Matthew

Ollerenshaw, Eric

Opperman, Guy

Osborne, rh Mr George

Ottaway, Richard

Paice, rh Mr James

Parish, Neil

Patel, Priti

Paterson, rh Mr Owen

Penning, Mike

Penrose, John

Percy, Andrew

Perry, Claire

Pickles, rh Mr Eric

Pincher, Christopher

Poulter, Dr Daniel

Pritchard, Mark

Raab, Mr Dominic

Randall, rh Mr John

Reckless, Mark

Redwood, rh Mr John

Rees-Mogg, Jacob

Reid, Mr Alan

Rifkind, rh Sir Malcolm

Robathan, rh Mr Andrew

Robertson, Hugh

Robertson, Mr Laurence

Rosindell, Andrew

Rudd, Amber

Ruffley, Mr David

Russell, Bob

Rutley, David

Sandys, Laura

Scott, Mr Lee

Selous, Andrew

Shapps, rh Grant

Sharma, Alok

Shelbrooke, Alec

Shepherd, Mr Richard

Simmonds, Mark

Simpson, Mr Keith

Skidmore, Chris

Smith, Miss Chloe

Smith, Henry

Smith, Julian

Soames, rh Nicholas

Soubry, Anna

Spelman, rh Mrs Caroline

Spencer, Mr Mark

Stanley, rh Sir John

Stephenson, Andrew

Stevenson, John

Stewart, Bob

Stewart, Iain

Stewart, Rory

Streeter, Mr Gary

Stride, Mel

Stuart, Mr Graham

Stunell, Andrew

Sturdy, Julian

Swales, Ian

Swayne, rh Mr Desmond

Swinson, Jo

Swire, rh Mr Hugo

Syms, Mr Robert

Tapsell, rh Sir Peter

Teather, Sarah

Thurso, John

Timpson, Mr Edward

Tomlinson, Justin

Tredinnick, David

Turner, Mr Andrew

Tyrie, Mr Andrew

Uppal, Paul

Vaizey, Mr Edward

Vickers, Martin

Villiers, rh Mrs Theresa

Wallace, Mr Ben

Walter, Mr Robert

Ward, Mr David

Watkinson, Angela

Weatherley, Mike

Webb, Steve

Wharton, James

Wheeler, Heather

White, Chris

Whittaker, Craig

Whittingdale, Mr John

Wiggin, Bill

Willetts, rh Mr David

Williams, Mr Mark

Williams, Roger

Williams, Stephen

Williamson, Gavin

Willott, Jenny

Wilson, Mr Rob

Wollaston, Dr Sarah

Wright, Jeremy

Wright, Simon

Yeo, Mr Tim

Young, rh Sir George

Zahawi, Nadhim

Tellers for the Ayes:

Mr Shailesh Vara and

Mark Hunter

NOES

Abbott, Ms Diane

Abrahams, Debbie

Ainsworth, rh Mr Bob

Alexander, rh Mr Douglas

Alexander, Heidi

Ali, Rushanara

Allen, Mr Graham

Anderson, Mr David

Ashworth, Jonathan

Austin, Ian

Bailey, Mr Adrian

Bain, Mr William

Balls, rh Ed

Banks, Gordon

Barron, rh Mr Kevin

Bayley, Hugh

Beckett, rh Margaret

Begg, Dame Anne

Bell, Sir Stuart

Benn, rh Hilary

Benton, Mr Joe

Berger, Luciana

Betts, Mr Clive

Blackman-Woods, Roberta

Blears, rh Hazel

Blenkinsop, Tom

Blunkett, rh Mr David

Brennan, Kevin

Brown, rh Mr Gordon

Brown, Lyn

Brown, rh Mr Nicholas

Brown, Mr Russell

Bryant, Chris

Buck, Ms Karen

Burden, Richard

Burnham, rh Andy

Byrne, rh Mr Liam

Campbell, Mr Alan

Campbell, Mr Ronnie

Caton, Martin

Chapman, Mrs Jenny

Clark, Katy

Clwyd, rh Ann

Coaker, Vernon

Coffey, Ann

Connarty, Michael

Cooper, Rosie

Cooper, rh Yvette

Corbyn, Jeremy

Crausby, Mr David

Creagh, Mary

Creasy, Stella

Cruddas, Jon

Cryer, John

Cunningham, Alex

Cunningham, Mr Jim

Cunningham, Tony

Curran, Margaret

Dakin, Nic

Danczuk, Simon

Darling, rh Mr Alistair

De Piero, Gloria

Denham, rh Mr John

Dobbin, Jim

Dobson, rh Frank

Docherty, Thomas

Dodds, rh Mr Nigel

Donaldson, rh Mr Jeffrey M.

Donohoe, Mr Brian H.

Doran, Mr Frank

Dowd, Jim

Doyle, Gemma

Dromey, Jack

Dugher, Michael

Durkan, Mark

Eagle, Ms Angela

Eagle, Maria

Edwards, Jonathan

Efford, Clive

Elliott, Julie

Ellman, Mrs Louise

Engel, Natascha

Esterson, Bill

Evans, Chris

Field, rh Mr Frank

Flello, Robert

Flint, rh Caroline

Flynn, Paul

Fovargue, Yvonne

Francis, Dr Hywel

Gapes, Mike

Gardiner, Barry

George, Andrew

Gilbert, Stephen

Gilmore, Sheila

Glass, Pat

Glindon, Mrs Mary

Goggins, rh Paul

Goodman, Helen

Greatrex, Tom

Green, Kate

Greenwood, Lilian

Griffith, Nia

Gwynne, Andrew

Hain, rh Mr Peter

Hamilton, Mr David

Hamilton, Fabian

Hanson, rh Mr David

Harman, rh Ms Harriet

Harris, Mr Tom

Havard, Mr Dai

Healey, rh John

Hendrick, Mark

Hepburn, Mr Stephen

Hermon, Lady

Heyes, David

Hillier, Meg

Hilling, Julie

Hodge, rh Margaret

Hodgson, Mrs Sharon

Hoey, Kate

Hopkins, Kelvin

Hunt, Tristram

Huppert, Dr Julian

Irranca-Davies, Huw

Jackson, Glenda

James, Mrs Siân C.

Jamieson, Cathy

Johnson, rh Alan

Johnson, Diana

Jones, Graham

Jones, Helen

Jones, Mr Kevan

Jones, Susan Elan

Jowell, rh Tessa

Joyce, Eric

Kaufman, rh Sir Gerald

Keeley, Barbara

Kendall, Liz

Khan, rh Sadiq

Lammy, rh Mr David

Lavery, Ian

Lazarowicz, Mark

Leslie, Chris

Lewis, Mr Ivan

Lloyd, Tony

Llwyd, rh Mr Elfyn

Long, Naomi

Love, Mr Andrew

Lucas, Caroline

Lucas, Ian

Mactaggart, Fiona

Mahmood, Shabana

Mann, John

Marsden, Mr Gordon

McCabe, Steve

McCann, Mr Michael

McCarthy, Kerry

McClymont, Gregg

McDonagh, Siobhain

McDonnell, Dr Alasdair

McDonnell, John

McFadden, rh Mr Pat

McGovern, Alison

McGovern, Jim

McGuire, rh Mrs Anne

McKechin, Ann

McKenzie, Mr Iain

McKinnell, Catherine

Meacher, rh Mr Michael

Meale, Sir Alan

Mearns, Ian

Michael, rh Alun

Miliband, rh David

Miliband, rh Edward

Miller, Andrew

Mitchell, Austin

Moon, Mrs Madeleine

Morrice, Graeme

Morris, Grahame M.

Mudie, Mr George

Mulholland, Greg

Munn, Meg

Murphy, rh Mr Jim

Murphy, rh Paul

Murray, Ian

Nandy, Lisa

Nash, Pamela

O'Donnell, Fiona

Onwurah, Chi

Osborne, Sandra

Owen, Albert

Pearce, Teresa

Perkins, Toby

Phillipson, Bridget

Pound, Stephen

Qureshi, Yasmin

Raynsford, rh Mr Nick

Reed, Mr Jamie

Reeves, Rachel

Reynolds, Emma

Reynolds, Jonathan

Riordan, Mrs Linda

Robertson, John

Robinson, Mr Geoffrey

Rotheram, Steve

Roy, Mr Frank

Roy, Lindsay

Ruane, Chris

Ruddock, rh Joan

Sanders, Mr Adrian

Sarwar, Anas

Seabeck, Alison

Shannon, Jim

Sharma, Mr Virendra

Sheerman, Mr Barry

Sheridan, Jim

Shuker, Gavin

Slaughter, Mr Andy

Smith, rh Mr Andrew

Smith, Nick

Smith, Owen

Spellar, rh Mr John

Straw, rh Mr Jack

Stringer, Graham

Stuart, Ms Gisela

Sutcliffe, Mr Gerry

Tami, Mark

Thomas, Mr Gareth

Thornberry, Emily

Timms, rh Stephen

Trickett, Jon

Turner, Karl

Twigg, Derek

Twigg, Stephen

Umunna, Mr Chuka

Vaz, Valerie

Walley, Joan

Watson, Mr Tom

Watts, Mr Dave

Whitehead, Dr Alan

Wicks, rh Malcolm

Williams, Hywel

Williamson, Chris

Wilson, Sammy

Winnick, Mr David

Winterton, rh Ms Rosie

Wood, Mike

Woodcock, John

Wright, David

Wright, Mr Iain

Tellers for the Noes:

Phil Wilson and

Angela Smith

"Time and time again, David Cameron has tried to claim that his reckless reorganisation is not about privatising the NHS - but now his own health minister has exposed the true purpose of the Tories NHS plans, saying that the reorganisation presents 'huge opportunities' for the private sector.

"This confirms what doctors, nurses, health professionals, patients’ groups and Labour have all warned – the Tories' NHS plans will fragment our health service by placing competition ahead of patient care.

"David Cameron is undermining the NHS with an incompetent and bureaucratic reorganisation which puts profit before patients."

Ends

Editor’s notes:

1. Health Minister Earl Howe says health reforms present "huge opportunities" for the private sector: 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14821946

"When experts like the Royal College of GPs and the Royal College of Nursing criticise David Cameron's Health Bill, he doesn't just ignore them – he pretends they support him. They say that 'the Bill could still potentially destabilise the NHS as we know it', and he yet he continues to claim they're on his side.

"So much for his listening exercise – this is a Prime Minister who only hears what he wants to hear, and invents facts to suit his argument. Doctors and nurses know the truth: David Cameron is undermining the NHS with an incompetent and bureaucratic reorganisation."

Ends 

Editor’s Notes:

1. Today, David Cameron claimed at PMQs that the Royal College of GPs and the Royal College of Nursing support his NHS reorganisation:

"He may not like the truth but that is the truth and I have to say to him that is why you now see the Royal College of GPs, the Royal College of Physicians, the Royal College of Nurses all supporting our health reforms."

David Cameron, Prime Minister's Questions, 7 September 2011

2. But in fact, only yesterday both organisations signed a letter to The Times criticising the Health and Social Care Bill and saying that it "could still potentially destabilise the NHS as we know it".

Sir, This is a critical week for the future of the NHS in England. MPs will have their final debate on the most controversial reforms in a generation, before the Health and Social Care Bill moves to the Lords. Our organisations believe that the Bill could still potentially destabilise the NHS as we know it. This is despite some positive amendments that the Government made to the legislation.

Though the language may have changed, the Government remains committed to opening up the NHS further to market forces as a priority. Without building in appropriate safeguards, extending choice to any qualified provider risks seriously destabilising existing, mainly NHS, providers and making it much harder to develop the integrated care patients want and need.

We share a number of more detailed concerns, including: the removal of the private patient income cap; “bonus” payments to clinical commissioning groups, and the need for further reassurances over the Secretary of State’s responsibility to provide a comprehensive health service.

We support a vision of healthcare that is patient focused, clinically-led and based on outcomes. That is why further significant amendments must be made to the Health Bill.

Dr Hamish Meldrum (BMA Council)

Dr Peter Carter (Royal College of Nursing)

Dr Clare Gerada (Royal College of GPs)

Professor Cathy Warwick (Royal College of Midwives)

Professor Sue Bailey (Royal College of Psychiatrists)

Phil Gray (Chartered Society of Physiotherapy)

Peggy Frost (British Association of Occupational Therapists)

Letter to The Times, 7 September, 2011

Yesterday and today, our MPs are debating Cameron’s Health Bill. These ‘reforms’ will fundamentally alter the nature of the NHS we know and love. The Bill is actually longer than the piece of legislation that set the NHS up in the first place – and the Coalition have tabled 1000 amendments to it. Yet, they’ve only given MPs two days to debate the Bill – we could be forgiven for thinking the Tories and the Lib Dems have got something to hide on the NHS…

Cameron’s Bill, if passed, will waste millions of pounds that should be invested in patient care and treatment on changes to the way the NHS is organised. These changes will not be for the better – they’ll mean more privatisation, worse care and fewer treatments available, and more red tape, making it harder for doctors and nurses to do their jobs.

Just last night, the Coalition voted down a Labour amendment to the Bill that would have stopped the Government making it easier for richer patients to jump the queue. That shows exactly what their vision is for our NHS – bigger credit cards = quicker treatment.

That’s why we have to take action today – we can’t let the Tories, and their friends in the Lib Dems, get away with the destruction of our NHS.

We have to make it clear that if they vote to destroy the NHS today, we will make it a campaign issue in every single one of their constituencies between now and the next election. They need to know that their constituents will never forgive them for voting for the end of our National Health Service.

http://www.nhsalert.org.uk/action

We need everyone who loves the NHS to contact their MPs today. Even if you’ve emailed them a dozen times before, please pick up the phone or drop them an email again today.

We’ve set up this simple online action tool to help you decide what to say to your MP on the phone or in an email.

We've done background research on our MPs, to discover which ones ran for election promising to support the NHS, and are now planning to vote to destroy it. We have to make sure these 'Hospital Hypocrites' know that their constituents won't stand for them casting their vote for Cameron's Bill.

Please, if you love our NHS and don’t want this Government to destroy it, spend a couple of minutes contacting your MP today.

http://www.nhsalert.org.uk/action

The Labour amendment was defeated 292 to 239, with three Lib Dem MPs voting with Labour - Andrew George, Martin Horwood & Adrian Sanders.

This brilliant, yet scary, video from UNISON explains what the removal of the cap will mean for our NHS - that those with the biggest credit cards will be able move to the front of the treatment queue.

The debate on the Health Bill will conclude tomorrow - the Coalition have allocated just 2 days' debate on the floor of the House of Commons to discuss the Bill that fundamentally alters the nature of the National Health Service that so many people rely on.

Take action now to make sure your MP knows that their constituents will never forgive a vote to destroy the NHS.

“David Cameron and Nick Clegg will betray the founding principles of the NHS by voting through the Health and Social Care Bill.

“For 65 years people have known the Secretary of State in the Government they elect is responsible for the definition and provision of a comprehensive health service. The health bill passes this power to at least 250 local commissioning groups, and stops the Secretary of State directing them on the services they must provide for patients. It makes the Government unaccountable for what health services are provided and unable to guarantee a universal service.

“David Cameron is taking the “national” out of the NHS. He is legislating for a postcode lottery in health.

“The Prime Minister is in denial about the damage his Tory-led Government is doing to the NHS. He says ‘the whole health profession is on board for what is now being done’, when doctors, nurses and patients’ groups remain opposed.

"David Cameron’s huge NHS upheaval is wasting millions of pounds on new bureaucracy, when the money could and should be spent on patient care. He is digging himself into a deeper and deeper hole, and the changes he’s made to the health bill after his ‘pause to listen’ have made the planned NHS reorganisation more complex, costly, confused and not complete until 2016.

“Nick Clegg will march his Lib Dem ministers through the lobby to vote for a change to the very first clause of the Act that set up the NHS in 1946, a change that independent legal advice said would lose the ‘duty to provide the national health service’.

“The Deputy Prime Minister is betraying the NHS with his support for this Bill and is more interested in saving the Government than saving our health service. He says ‘there is nothing in any of the government’s plans which in anyway threatens the basic founding principle of the NHS’. But it is a fundamental and founding principle that the NHS is a national service, equally there for all, whoever we are and wherever we live.

“The NHS is one of the proudest parts of British life and the most important fall back for us all when we’re ill.”

Ends

Editor's Notes:

1. Nick Clegg said in response to questions yesterday:

"Let me be absolutely clear. There is nothing, nothing, nothing in any of the government's plans which in anyway threaten the basic founding principles of the NHS.

"There is no question, legally or politically, of the secretary of state under these new arrangements being somehow able to wash his or her hands of the NHS."

http://www.politics.co.uk/comment-analysis/2011/09/06/nick-clegg-nothing-in-health-and-social-care-

2. Independent legal advice:

· “Effectively, the duty to provide a national health service would be lost if the Bill becomes law… It is effectively fragmenting a service that currently has the advantage of national oversight and control, and which is politically accountable via the ballot box to the electorate.”

· “The Secretary of State’s functions are reduced to a series of powers and duties related to provision, but not including provision itself, except in limited circumstances. The exercise of all these functions, however, is subject to an autonomy or “hands off” clause.”

· “Encouraged by the structure and clear intention of the Bill to give consortia autonomy from the Secretary of State, there is a real risk of an increase in the “postcode lottery” nature of the delivery of some services, depending on the decisions made by consortia in relation to these subsections.”

http://38degrees.3cdn.net/75856a0564e9244f2a_rum6i66sh.pdf

3. Number of commissioning groups

There are currently 256 pathfinder commissioning consortia:

http://healthandcare.dh.gov.uk/context/consortia/

4. David Cameron

David Cameron said on a visit to Truro on 26 August 2011:

“the whole health profession is on board for what is now being done”.

http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/Cameron-defends-health-reforms-Cornwall-visit/story-13207410-detail/story.html

5. Letter to the Times from leading doctors, nurses and patients’ groups:

Amendments must be made to the Health Bill before MPs have their final debate on the most controversial reforms in a generation

Sir, This is a critical week for the future of the NHS in England. MPs will have their final debate on the most controversial reforms in a generation, before the Health and Social Care Bill moves to the Lords. Our organisations believe that the Bill could still potentially destabilise the NHS as we know it. This is despite some positive amendments that the Government made to the legislation.

Though the language may have changed, the Government remains committed to opening up the NHS further to market forces as a priority. Without building in appropriate safeguards, extending choice to any qualified provider risks seriously destabilising existing, mainly NHS, providers and making it much harder to develop the integrated care patients want and need.

We share a number of more detailed concerns, including: the removal of the private patient income cap; “bonus” payments to clinical commissioning groups, and the need for further reassurances over the Secretary of State’s responsibility to provide a comprehensive health service.

We support a vision of healthcare that is patient focused, clinically-led and based on outcomes. That is why further significant amendments must be made to the Health Bill.

Dr Hamish Meldrum (BMA Council)

Dr Peter Carter (Royal College of Nursing)

Dr Clare Gerada (Royal College of GPs)

Professor Cathy Warwick (Royal College of Midwives)

Professor Sue Bailey (Royal College of Psychiatrists)

Phil Gray (Chartered Society of Physiotherapy)

Peggy Frost (British Association of Occupational Therapists)

6. Liberal Democrat support

Some Liberal Democrat backbench MPs have already shown they disagree with the position their ministers are taking. Andrew George MP has signed up to Labour’s amendment to restore the duties of the Secretary of State.

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/2010-2012/0221/amend/pbc221110906m.2995-3001.html - Amendment 1176.

Three Liberal Democrat MPs, Andrew George MP, Greg Mulholland MP and John Pugh MP have signed up to Labour’s amendment to keep the cap on private patient income.

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/2010-2012/0221/amend/pbc221110906m.3009-3015.html

Baroness Shirley Williams has made her concerns about the changes to the role of the Secretary of State clear:

“The secretary of state… is no longer legally and constitutionally responsible.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/sep/04/nhs-health-bill-andrew-lansley

7. Labour arguments

Labour has been making the argument that the Health and Social Care Bill breaks up the national NHS since the Bill was published.

John Healey said in a speech to the King’s Fund on 20 January 2011:

“It lies in removing the “N” in NHS, so there are no consistent service guarantees for patients wherever they live”

http://www.labour.org.uk/john-healeys-speech-to-the-kings-fund

Today and tomorrow, our Members of Parliament will be debating and voting on Cameron’s Health Bill – the Bill that could destroy the NHS that we know and love.

If Cameron gets his way, and Tory and Lib Dem MPs fall in to line to support the Bill, it’s clear what the future of our NHS will be – worse patient care, more privatisation and more red tape, making it harder for nurses and doctors to do their jobs.

We have to get the message to our MPs that we love our NHS – and we want them to vote against Cameron’s plans to destroy it.

Do you have two minutes to call or email your MP today?

http://www.nhsalert.org.uk/action

It’s clear that this Health Bill will be a disaster for our NHS. Just today, John Healey, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, has revealed that even before the Bill has become law, £2billion has been diverted away from patient care in the NHS to pay for it. That’s £2billion that would have been spent on care and treatment, but is now being held back to fund Cameron’s top-down reorganisation.

As our MPs debate and discuss the Bill today and tomorrow, those of us who love our NHS need to pile on the pressure. That’s why we’ve set up this simple online action tool to help you decide what to say to your MP on the phone or in an email.

We've done background research on our MPs, to discover which ones ran for election promising to support the NHS, and are now planning to vote to destroy it. We have to make sure these 'Hospital Hypocrites' know that their constituents won't stand for them casting their vote for Cameron's Bill.

Take action now:

http://www.nhsalert.org.uk/action

Our MPs hold the future of our NHS in their hands – we have to make sure they know that we want them to vote against Cameron’s plan to destroy it.

Thanks

Helen

PS. Check out this spoof video from UNISON to see what our NHS could be like in 5 years' time: http://nhsalert.org.uk/blog/entry/new-nhs-spoof-video-what-will-our-nhs-look-like-in-5-years-time/

Paul says: "In sunny Eastbourne, people were queuing up to sign the 'We Love the NHS' card. Local Lib Dem MP Stephen Lloyd was left in no doubt that Eastbourne people are against the Coalition plans to destroy the NHS."

See some of the photos from the day here:

You can upload your Big NHS Weekend photos here: http://www.nhsalert.org.uk/bigweekendsnaps

Medway Labour activists put together this great video of their campaigning this weekend:

Sunday 4th September 2011

For immediate use

As the House of Commons prepares for two days of crucial debates on David Cameron’s hugely unpopular Health and Social Care Bill, new analysis by Shadow Health Secretary John Healey has revealed a 54% increase in the number of people suffering long waits for their diagnosis or treatment.

Research, based on official Department of Health statistics, shows that over 400,000 more people have suffered long NHS waits in the 14 months since David Cameron became Prime Minister when compared with the most recent equivalent 14 month period under Labour.

Since the May 2010 general election, a total of 1.14 million people have waited longer than the target times for treatment, diagnostics and A&E. This is a 401,000 (54%) increase on the equivalent period under Labour and includes:

56,000 more people who waited more than 18 weeks for treatment

60,000 more people who waited more than 6 weeks for diagnostic tests

286,000 more people who waited more than 4 hours in A&E

John Healey MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary said:

"As David Cameron railroads his Health Bill through Parliament, these alarming figures confirm that the NHS is starting to go backwards again under the Tories.

"Labour put record investment into the NHS, and brought waiting times down to an all time low. Now, with little over a year of a Tory-led government, over 400,000 more people have suffered long waits for diagnosis and treatment. So much for David Cameron’s election promise to protect the NHS.

"The impact on patient services of David Cameron wasting millions of pounds on new NHS bureaucracy is becoming all too clear. Instead of railroading his Health Bill through Parliament, the Prime Minister should scrap his plans now and let NHS staff get on with the job of treating and diagnosing patients."

Ends

Editor's notes:

The waiting times statistics are taken from the time series published on the Department of Health website:-

Referral to Treatment Times (18 week target)

Diagnostic waiting times (6 week target)

A&E waiting times (4 hour target)

The figures compare the number of people who waited for their diagnosis or treatment longer than target during the first 14 months of David Cameron’s government with the number who waited longer than target in an equivalent period covering the most recent equivalent period under Labour. All figures relate to completed pathways of diagnosis or treatment.

With A&E figures, the comparable data for May-June 2010 and May-June 2009 is a calculation of two thirds of the respective April-June official quarterly (Q1) figures.

For more information, please contact the Labour Party press office on 020 7783 1393.

To find events near you, go to our events page.

Within a week of being diagnosed Ryan was allocated a physio- and occupational therapist. Those therapists proved invaluable, from giving me and my husband advice to a shoulder to cry on and most importantly they gave Ryan the opportunity to live as healthy and happy a life as possible.

Our house is filled with equipment for Ryan. He has a manual and electric wheelchair, a standing frame, a supportive sleep system - the list goes on. Luckily for Ryan and our family, we received all of the necessary, life-enhancing equipment before last year’s General Election.

Children’s physio- and occupational therapists are the unsung heroes of our NHS. The work they do to ensure children with severe physical disabilities do not develop life threatening conditions such as pneumonia and scoliosis saves the NHS tens of millions of pounds annually and most importantly lets our young people maximise their quality of life.

Last month Ryan’s occupational therapist came to see him for the last time. She felt she could no longer work within the NHS now that her service has become so painfully underfunded.  In a heart-wrenching explanation of why she felt moved to leave the NHS, she told how expertise was only useful to the children when it was accompanied by the equipment needed to carry out the treatment she knew they so desperately needed.

She is not the only therapist who feels like this.
Ryan’s physio- is also considering resigning. Therapists are not being replaced when they leave the NHS, meaning that in Ryan’s case – typical of many others -  physiotherapy visits have dropped in frequency from once a week to once every six weeks.

The families of disabled children often offer an easy target for the NHS cost-cutting. Quite frankly we’re usually too busy with our childcare duties and scouring what’s left of the care system for support to have the time or expertise to stand up for the vital services and NHS workers that our families rely on.

I joined the Labour Party because of the strides that the last Labour government made in improving our NHS. My son’s life chances have been improved immeasurably by the improvements made in our 13 years in office. But now I worry that those children and families that come after Ryan will face an uncertain future as this Tory-led government cuts vital services and personnel.

It’s for Ryan and thousands like him – and their families - that I will be joining with other Labour members and trade unionists to campaign for a rethink on the government’s ideologically-driven NHS reforms. I hope you will join with us too.

Join NHS Alert’s NHS Big Weekend to send a message to Andrew George and other MPs that they need to vote against this Bill to stop wholesale destruction of our NHS.

This claim however, came as a bit of a shock to the Chair of the General Practitioners’ Committee, Dr Laurence Buckman who said ‘The health unions are all against it, and if you add up the nurses and health workers, GPs from the College and GPC, and doctors the BMA, I'm not sure who Cameron thinks is enthusiastic about it.'

Dr. Buckman went on to say ‘People who are interested in GP commissioning have been doing it for years, and they don't need a health bill to do it'.

You can read a full report of the speech here

We are angry - angry and scared about what this Bill will do to our beloved NHS.

These ‘reforms’ won’t increase coordination and cooperation in patient care, and they won’t make it easier for health professionals to look after our patients. Instead, they will use competition to pit public provision in the NHS against private and independent sectors.

How can the NHS compete against an independent sector that can cherry pick the procedures, operations and patients that are the most lucrative, whilst the NHS is left to provide only the most expensive services? Ultimately, money will be taken out of the NHS, which will have to carry on treating the most vulnerable and complex patients, and will be given directly to the private sector.

The government talk about how profit can make healthcare more efficient, but they don’t seem to understand what makes health professionals tick. Ultimately, we in the caring professions don’t need profit as an incentive to achieve – our primary focus and goal is always, and always should remain, the individual needs of our patients.

The more services that are outsourced from the public sector, the less accountability that tax payers and patients have over the services and care they receive.  The recent scandal with Southern Cross health care demonstrates this effectively. Privately provided services are less scrutinised and more lightly regulated, and are less accountable to the people who use them. This outsourcing  leaves local authorities and government toothless and impotent to make changes. This will surely be the case more frequently within our NHS if this Bill passes.   

‘No top-down reforms!’, this government promised us - something welcomed by frontline staff in all public services.  The British Medical Association, public service unions and even the GPs themselves all oppose this bill.  This is top-down reform - reform opposed by frontline staff in our NHS.  It demonstrates the arrogance of this government; forcing competition rather than cooperation in the health service.  Listen to the experienced people of our NHS, a large body of highly trained professionals who are saying ‘no’ to this reform.

I would like to echo what the BMA have said: “Government is misleading the public by repeatedly stating that there will be 'no privatisation of the NHS'”.

This bill will increase the post-code lottery of health care provision, and reduce the universality of care able to be provided across the country.  A recent report by Public Health Manchester for the Parliamentary Health Select Committee suggests that the NHS Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) in poorer regions are going to lose cash to tackle health inequalities – local authorities like Tower Hamlets and Manchester losing large chunks of their health budget, with more affluent areas like Hampshire and Surrey to be better off.

My other concern is for those members of staff who work in the independent sector. What guarantees do we have that they will receive the same pay and conditions as public sector workers doing the same job?  Potentially, we could see the independent sector offering cheaper treatment by cut-priced, less specialist and less experienced staff, working longer hours for lower pay. This will be to the detriment of patient care.  And though the Government claim to be reducing bureaucracy, it’s just not true. How many people made redundant by local Strategic Health Authorities, who will no doubt, and rightly, be entitled to costly redundancy packages, will now be re-employed by local GP consortiums?  

What the NHS needs is a Government committed to delivering top-class patient care.  A Government who believes in greater cooperation and coordination in care provision, and who understands that the public sector is much better placed to deliver this than a private sector with profit as its maxim.  Please lobby your local MPs to oppose this Bill - http://www.nhsalert.org.uk/page/speakout/will-you-email-your-mp-now.

As a starting point the government failed to recommit the full bill, leaving the Opposition unable to scrutinise how clauses in the amended bill would interact.

Although the recommitted bill did include amendments to Clause 1, the duty of the Secretary of State for Health to secure and provide a comprehensive health service – fundamentally, the original duty of the Secretary of State – has not been reinstated in full. Why?

Of deep concern is how the role of Monitor, the economic regulator, has barely changed. Instead of having to ‘promote competition’ they must now ‘prevent anti-competitive practice’. No doubt the lawyers will have a field day with that one.

Other aspects that have not been amended include removing the private bed cap and allowing foundation trusts for the first time to sell assets and raise loans. Linked with this is the introduction of a new insolvency regime.

Collectively these will enable private equity companies to buy NHS facilities and asset strip them, with direct parallels to the demise of Southern Cross (Reynolds, 2011, in the British Medical Journal).

The recommitted bill does nothing to allay fears about the true reasons the government is opening up competition under the guise of increasing patient choice and clinician-led commissioning. It is certainly not to improve the quality of healthcare – there is little evidence to support this.

Instead, we should look to a speech health secretary Andrew Lansley made in 2005:

“The statutory formula should make clear that choice should be exercised by patients or as close to the patient as possible, thereby maximising the number of purchasers and enhancing the prospects of competition.”

This explains why the government is transferring power and financial decisions to GP commissioners – they are closest to the patient and GP commissioning will help increase competition and the number of purchasers (through greater choice) in the system, especially if driven by private FESC (Framework for Procuring External Support) companies.

This also explains the patient held budgets policy.

So the government wants a system where the number of both purchasers and providers are maximised, creating a citizen-consumer competitive market to drive forward the forces of “creative destruction” on the NHS.

Unfortunately, creative destruction causes constant entry and exit from the market, which is prohibitively expensive in healthcare because of the costs of medical infrastructure, technology and staffing.

In a single payer system with a fixed budget such as our NHS this will inevitably lead to financial meltdown. The only way this can be avoided is to get extra capital into the system.

And this is where we come to the heart of it – the Bill is achieving this in the following ways:

• Firstly, foundation trusts can borrow money from the City to invest as already mentioned. They will have to repay this by treating more NHS patients and more private patients. This will be aided by the abolition on the cap on private patients’ income for FTs;

• Secondly, there will be an increasing demand for healthcare insurance as waiting lists go up. We are seeing this already under so-called efficiency measures and it happened under Thatcher;

• Thirdly, there will be a new insurance market set up for top ups and co-payments; and

• Fourthly, in the next Parliament, it is likely that more direct patient charges will be introduced.

Since the budget is fixed, the drive for excess capacity and a consumerist approach to healthcare will drain the NHS budget rapidly. This will result in clinical commissioning consortia increasingly becoming rationing bodies, driving up waiting lists and reducing the number of NHS core services.

This will drive foundation Trusts into further debt burdens forcing closures, mergers and private management takeovers. This is already happening. In fact, this whole process is crucial to stimulating the private healthcare insurance and private provider industry.

This is why the duty of the Secretary of State to secure and provide a comprehensive health service is such a key issue and needs protecting – it should not be changed at all.

Although the government has supposedly made concessions – recognising that attempting to privatise the NHS in the same way the utilities were in the 1980s would just not be acceptable to the public – it has changed tack not direction.

QIPP (Quality Innovation Prevention and Productivity) allowed politicians to say the NHS would continue to receive year on year increases in funding. However, the efficiency savings are clearly so harsh (no health system has ever attempted such a feat) that the NHS is inevitably going to fail and drive the need for private investment into our health service. Taxpayers will pick up most of the bill, but get less and less for their money.

In addition, English citizens will increasingly have to consider taking out healthcare insurance policies. This clearly has the most adverse effect on the most vulnerable in society because of the Inverse Care Law.

Finally, opening up the NHS to EU competition law will dramatically increase the amount of capital available to bring into our health service, but ultimately this capital will flow back to the investors at a profit, which will be at the expense of the UK taxpayer, private healthcare insurance payments, and out of pocket healthcare expenditure.

This will only increase income and healthcare inequalities, which are both known to damage economic growth. This is in direct contradiction to Clause 3 – the new duty of the Secretary of State for Health to reduce health inequalities.

This is the Secretary of State’s view of the EU situation in that 2005 speech:

“I said it is a developing consensus. Much of what I have described is like the EU’s developing framework for services of a general economic interest. I recognise this and I welcome it.

“A vital aspect of our relationship with Europe should be to encourage the EU to be concerned with promoting competitive markets. Although we don’t want the EU to intervene directly into domestic legislation, I see no difficulty with encouraging EU trade in services, by ensuring that a strong market orientated regulatory framework is in place in each member state.

“And it will come, I dare say, for the education and health in the future – as it did for telecoms in the recent past. I see good reason to plan positively for it, rather than ignore it. The time has come for pro-competitive reforms in public services including health and education.”

It is clear that a single payer system cannot survive these policies. This bill will be a disaster for the NHS. What the NHS needs is appropriate reform and proper accountability – but definitely not the opening up of the market.

This article was first published on Left Foot Forward by Debbie Abrahams MP (Labour, Oldham East and Saddleworth) with Clive Peedell, Vice-Chair of the NHS Consultants Association, and Lucy Reynolds, a research fellow at the London School of Tropical Health and Medicine, writing in a personal capacity

In addition to the cuts and closures we have already seen, the Government are changing the way they decide how much local Primary Care Trusts get to spend on ending health inequalities.

At the moment, those areas with high health inequalities (shorter than average life-expectancies, for example) get extra money from the Government. Under the new plans, local government will be given the grants instead, and will be able to spend it as they wish.

This change will mean that some of the most deprived areas of the country lose out on important cash. The Observer writes: “Health trusts in Tower Hamlets, east London, would lose almost £19m. By contrast, wealthy parts of south-east England gain considerably. Surrey PCT will gain £61m and Hampshire PCT will get another £52m.”

We know that there is a close link between income and life expectancy – those with the highest incomes can expect to live, on average, 8 years longer than those with the lowest – a huge injustice.

That’s why the Government has a responsibility to ensure that the money we pay in taxes is spent where it is needed the most. Services to help people stop smoking, exercise more or eat more healthily can make a real difference in starting to even out those entrenched inequalities.

By changing the way they distribute public health money, this Government are making it clear that they don’t think tackling health inequalities is a priority – poorer people dying younger is not something that they think it’s Government’s role to address.

This Government likes to claim it believes in equality – but this public health policy will make health inequality worse, not better. The Tories show their true colours yet again.

Yesterday though, this was exposed as yet another broken promise from this government. Spending under the previous Labour government was £102.751billion in their last year. The figures released by the Treasury yesterday show that in the first year of this ConDem government, NHS spending has been £101.985billion. That is a decrease £766 million.

This cut in spending is already doing serious damage to our NHS with waiting times rising and hospital wards closing. These statistics today have shown David Cameron to be the biggest hypocrite of them all.

The BMA have said that:

• - even with the Government's amendments it cannot support the Health and Social Care Bill
• - it will oppose the Bill until is satisfactorily modified
• - it will continue to oppose any Bill which seeks to break down the NHS family and treat healthcare as a commodity to be bought and sold in a commercial market
• - it agrees that the Government is misleading the public by repeatedly stating that there will be 'no privatisation of the NHS'

The government has now been condemned TWICE by one of the biggest health professionals unions in the country and must now realise that no-one wants this Bill. It is time to for Lansley, Clegg and Cameron to kill the Bill.

You can see the full statement here

We at NHS Alert welcome any government minister speaking out against the unfair and unnecessary pension cuts to our hard working health professionals but we are not going to take this as a message that Lansley stands up for the NHS.

Lansley, along with David Cameron and Nick Clegg, is currently in the process of forcing through legislation which will destroy the very fabric of the NHS we all know and love. Yes, his views on pension reforms are welcomed but to say that Lansley is someone who is on the side of our NHS workers is a something we simply cannot let him get away with.

His plans for NHS reform have already seen over £1billion of taxpayers money going to private companies and 100,000 nurses will lose their jobs due to government spending cuts.

So Mr. Lansley, thank you for your support over pensions, now please go a step further and show us how much you care about our NHS by dropping the Health and Social Care Bill and rethinking the cuts to the Health Sevice.