Lord Owen Commenting on Labour’s National Policy Endorsement of Health Amendments, Milton Keynes 18-20 July
The Labour Party ‘s proposals for the NHS are a very important new direction which are to be greatly welcomed. The Labour Party has listened to the authentic voices supportive of the NHS and plan to roll back PFI commitments with no further privatisation and reinstate a new model NHS drawing on the best traditions of the past while realising that we cannot rush into another massive reorganisation.
In all its essentials a duty to provide a comprehensive national health service; to take competitive law out of the NHS by ending Monitor’s role as an economic competition regulator; scrapping Section 75 and allowing the Secretary of State to issue directions on the NHS becoming the preferred provider; and committing to a review of the mixed economy of Trusts and Foundation Trusts so that all services are fully integrated to deliver whole person care, represents a massive and imaginative change encompassing a new collaborative way with a new priority for mental health and focussing on deprived areas.