Milburn on Lansley’s health reforms

Andrew Lansley’s health reforms have never been in the rosiest of health; but, as Pete observed yesterday, the current malaise may leave permanent damage. Paul Waugh has been speaking to Alan Milburn and the modernising former Health Secretary’s words speak volumes about Lansley’s trails:

“I’m amazed they allowed themselves to get into talk about privatisation and cuts. Having originally said this was a revolution they’re now saying it’s just evolution of Labour’s reforms. Politically, it doesn’t make sense. “Look, a managed form of competition is fine. The problem is that the lynchpin of the reforms was GP commissioning. “It’s a good idea to get family doctors to be aware of the financial consequences of their decisions. So that’s a tick. “But it’s a bad idea to assume that GPs can handle the complex business of commissioning local services. It’s also a bad idea to weaken political accountability.”