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| Lord Blackwell |
A company led by a Conservative Lord has
just expanded into a new lucrative area of healthcare, made possible by the Health
& Social Care Act. The noble Chairman
spoke and voted in favour of the bill, opening new avenues for the company he
serves.
On June 14th, 2011, The House of
Lords met for a statement made by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at
the Department of Health, Earl Howe, to mark the end of the now discredited ‘listening exercise’,
set up by the government as a response to the near total discontent to their
Health bill.
Following the opening statement, Conservative
Peer, Lord Blackwell spoke of his concern at the
direction the Health and Social Care bill was taking, and sought reassurances
that the Health bill was heading in the direction that would open up large
parts of the NHS for sale:
‘Can he (Earl Howe) elaborate a little more on the development of competition and choice to which he referred? Can I take it from what my noble friend has said that the Government continue to believe that competition and choice are key drivers of improving the interests of patients and quality in the health service?...how will the phasing of the introduction or further expansion of alternative providers evolve in a way that will give those alternative providers the confidence to make the investments necessary so that they can play their full part in providing quality services under the NHS?’
‘Can he (Earl Howe) elaborate a little more on the development of competition and choice to which he referred? Can I take it from what my noble friend has said that the Government continue to believe that competition and choice are key drivers of improving the interests of patients and quality in the health service?...how will the phasing of the introduction or further expansion of alternative providers evolve in a way that will give those alternative providers the confidence to make the investments necessary so that they can play their full part in providing quality services under the NHS?’