NewsBreakingOnline

Health secretary expected to deny that altered reforms represent Lib Dem victory, claiming Tory red lines have not been crossed Andrew Lansley, the health secretary, has issued a private plea to angry Conservative MPs to stand by him as he prepares to push through a heavily amended version of his NHS reforms. The government will accept a series of changes proposed by an independent panel. But amid anger on the Tory benches at Liberal Democrat claims that they have secured a major victory by forcing Lansley to back down, the health secretary has told Tory MPs that the core principles of his reforms will remain in place. “Andrew is saying stick with me because the Tory red lines have not been crossed and his main aims – to give GPs commissioning powers and to encourage greater competition – will remain,” one Tory said. “Andrew can carry on. He will just have to move at a slower pace.” The government will put on a show of unity when David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Lansley give their formal response to the Future Forum report on the NHS reforms in a joint appearance at a London hospital. The three men will endorse the main proposals of the report, which was formally presented to the government by Professor Steve Field, the chairman of the Future Forum. These are: • The health and social care bill should be amended to ensure that the primary duty of Monitor, the health service regulator, is not to promote competition. “Monitor’s role in relation to competition should be significantly diluted in the bill,” the report said. • The membership of new GP-led consortiums, which are designed to take control of 65% of the NHS budget, should be widened to ensure there is “effective multi-professional involvement in the design and commissioning of services”. • The original 2013 deadline for the completion of the reforms should be relaxed. The new consortiums should only “take on their full range of responsibilities when they can demonstrate that they have the right skills, capacity and capability to do so”. • Private providers should not be allowed to “cherry pick” patients and the government “should not seek to increase the role of the private sector as an end in itself”. • The health secretary “must remain ultimately accountable” for the NHS, in contrast to Lansley’s original proposal in the bill which made him mainly responsible for the promotion of public health. In a letter to ministers, Field said the government had slipped up in its original plans. “We heard genuine and deep seated concerns from NHS staff, patients and the public which must be addressed if the reforms are to be progressed,” he wrote. Clegg told his parliamentary party that the Lib Dems should be proud of their efforts after their demands, tabled at their spring conference in March, were “handsomely met”. The deputy prime minister said: “Our overall demands: slow the pace of change, don’t give preference to the private sector and proper accountability – all of these things have been very, very handsomely met. The bill is now a whole lot better and will make sure decisions are taken in the best interests of patients. It’s been a fantastic collective effort. This is still a major reform of the NHS. We’ve never been against reform. We’ve always been in favour of the right kind of reform.” Clegg will be able to claim another win on Tuesday when Cameron agrees that amended parts of the bill will be considered at committee stage in the Commons again. But there was barely concealed anger in Downing Street over what was seen as gloating by the Lib Dems, who declared victory at the weekend. The delight among Lib Dems has alarmed Tory MPs who believe that Downing Street has wrongly caved in at a time when the Lib Dems are weak. The mood among many Tories towards the Lib Dems is said to be “sulphurous”. But Lansley has calmed the backbenchers by saying that their key red lines – that competition should be allowed and the need for a quick pace of reforms – have not been crossed. One senior Tory said. “I think I am going to bite my tongue and go along with this out of respect for Lansley.” Andrew George, one of only two Lib Dem MPs to abstain when the health and social care bill received its second reading in January, said: “There is a risk that the bill merely becomes a trojan horse to reintroduce all of the same damaging Tory policies through the back door later on.” The anger on Tory backbenches and Cameron’s language to the newly elected MPs will raise questions about whether the change in gear on the NHS marks a decisive turning point for the coalition. One Tory cabinet minister said the conflict between the Lib Dems and Tories meant that people were overlooking a decisive voice demanding changes to the NHS reforms – George Osborne. The chancellor, who was alarmed by private polling which showed that the Tories’ work in neutralising the NHS as an issue was being jeopardised by the presentation of the reforms, was highly influential in persuading Cameron to introduce the pause. The cabinet minister said: “Nick Clegg is busy claiming all the credit for effectively carrying out George’s work.” Health policy NHS Health Public services policy Andrew Lansley Conservatives Liberal Democrats Nicholas Watt guardian.co.uk