I believe that the proposed Bill would be an unnecessary upheaval and the wrong approach to improving the NHS. An authoritative comparative study of the performance of different national health systems recently concluded that the NHS is the best health service in the world.
This is a ringing endorsement of the Government's decision to modernise the NHS, ensuring more money was spent on patient care not administration, and to invest over £7 billion extra funding in real terms in the health service during the last Parliament. There are now 1.3 million more operations being delivered each year compared to 2010, 10,700 more doctors and almost 11,800 more nurses. I am also proud that the Prime Minister has promised to increase investment in this Parliament with over £10 billion of additional NHS spending in real terms per annum by 2020/21. This will mean spending on the NHS will rise in every year in real-terms.
In my view, giving operational control for the day-to-day running of services to doctors was the right decision as they have the best understanding of their patients and local needs. Nonetheless the Government has always been clear that Ministers are responsible for the NHS, and I am proud of its performance in challenging circumstances.