The biggest reform to the NHS since its inception since 1948. A move away from
bureaucracy towards a proper internal market. GPs commissioning. A revolution, taking on the vested interests. Yes, there was so much to savour in the NHS Plan of 2000 – enough, Alan Milburn would
later joke, that he kept re-announcing its policies for the next three years and getting headlines. Well, the Tories can play at that game too. Now, it has been reannounced by Andrew Lansley and
called the coalition NHS White Paper.
This is, in my book, a compliment to Lansley. In opposition, he sided with the unions and attacked Labour from the left on the “stop the cuts” platform. Now, he is picking up some of the discarded Blair reform agenda – centrally, GP commissioning. It’s a great idea (and was when Milburn proposed it ten years ago) – rather than waste money through Primary Care Trusts, the GPs would have the power and budget to do things themselves.
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