MP supports NHS reforms

Changes will drive up standards, says Neil Parish

NHS reforms will drive up quality and reduce competition concerned with costs.

That is the view of Tiverton and Honiton MP Neil Parish.

He told the Midweek Herald: “I welcome the reforms to the National Health Service (NHS) brought by the Health and Social Care Bill.

“The Government plans to modernise the NHS and make it a service fit for the 21st Century.

“That is why we are increasing the NHS budget by �10.7 billion by 2014 and tackling the waste and inefficiency of the last Labour Government’s bureaucratic, top-heavy management structures and give greater say to doctors and nurses on how hospitals are run.

“Already we have increased the number of doctors by 2,500 and cut the number of managers by 2,000 since May.”

Mr Parish added: “We are putting GP consortia at the very centre of NHS commissioning and these plans have met with approval from the Royal College of General Practitioners and 25 local authorities are now piloting these changes and have been very supportive.

“Our plans will ensure that, in the future, there will be more competition on quality and less competition on price.”

Please note: Mr Parish’s comments are in response to concerns about proposed reforms, raised at a recent public meeting in Honiton. Cick on the story in the ‘related link’ at the top right-hand corner of this page. The stories were run side-by-side in today’s paper.