Coalition plans for NHS reform 'fundamentally wrong,' says Labour MP

The Government was today urged to 'ditch' its controversial health bill instead of trying to 'botch' together a revised one.

Shadow Health minister Emily Thornberry told a delegation of leading doctors that the Coalition 'should accept' they got plans to overhaul the NHS 'fundamentally wrong' adding 'better no bill than a bad bill'.

In a speech to senior hospital doctors from across the country, the Labour MP attacked ministers as serving their own 'political interests' when it announced a 'pause' in the driving through the landmark re-shaping of the health service.

She said: "The pause seems to be an opportunity for those in the coalition to strike a pose that will best serve their own political interests. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be about what is in the NHS's best interests."

She added that the widespread objection to the reforms from clinicians to patients had led to David Cameron and Nick Clegg backtracking on their initial endorsement of the bill.

"It has become a nightmare for Cameron and Clegg," she said. "We hear that the Deputy Prime Minister wants to save the NHS from the Prime Minister. But then we hear that David Cameron also wants to Save the NHS. He wants substantial changes to the bill as well.

"The future of the NHS has become bit player in a Mills and Boon political romance, where things are going sour rapidly. Its quite extraordinary. To listen to them now, you'd never believe that they both signed the bill."

Her comments were made at a conference at the British Medical Association, which has said the NHS reforms should be scrapped and warned going ahead would be an "enormous risk".

Ms Thornberry added: "They should accept that they have got this fundamentally wrong and rather than try and botch something together our view is that the government would be best ditching this bill and thinking again.

To coin a phrase "I agree with Nick" better no bill than a bad bill."