Labour demand Commons debate on controversial new Tory health plans

Labour has
today called for a series of controversial changes to the NHS to be debated in the House of Commons, after it emerged
that Ministers had planned to force through new regulations without debate in
the New Year.

Labour has
tabled an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons in the name of Labour Leader
Jeremy Corbyn and Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth, together with
front bench colleagues, calling for greater transparency on the Government’s
new Accountable Care plans in the NHS.

Jonathan
Ashworth has also written to Andrea Leadsom, Leader of the House of Commons, to
call for the Government to provide Parliamentary time for MPs to debate and
vote on the proposed changes on the floor of the House.

The
letter states:

“Accountable
Care Organisations are potentially the biggest change which will be made to our
NHS for a decade. Yet the Government has been reluctant to put details of the
new arrangements into the public domain. It’s essential that the decision
around whether to introduce ACOs into the NHS is taken in public, with a full
debate and vote in Parliament.

“There
are big, unanswered questions about how ACOs will be accountable to the public,
what the levels of private sector involvement will be, and what the
implications will be for NHS staff. The NHS is experiencing the largest
financial squeeze in its history and there are concerns that Accountable Care
Organisations could be used as a vehicle for greater rationing of treatment locally.

“The
unacceptable secrecy in which these ACOs have been conceived and are being
pushed forward is totally contrary to the NHS’s duty to be open, transparent
and accountable in its decision-making. The manner in which the Government are
approaching ACOs, as with STPs before them, fails that test.

“There
is a lack of clarity about Government’s intentions for ACOs, and in the absence
of a strong lead from the Secretary of State there is again growing public
mistrust. It is inconceivable in this context that the Government should make
such wide changes behind closed doors, rather than on the floor of the House.”