Responding to the overwhelming vote which called for amendments to be made to the Health Bill going through Parliament to get rid of the marketization and enhance accountability, Dr Evan Harris, who drafted the amendment, said:
"It is now incumbent on Nick and his ministerial team to deliver the major changes to the Government’s Health Policy and the significant amendments to the Health and Social Care Billthat the Liberal Democrats have overwhelming called for." “Because the health reforms were not in the coalition agreement, today’s vote is the only view expressed by the party on the subject, and sends a very clear message through the minister and our leader to their Conservative Coalition partners that we will not accept market reform of the health service, any fragmentation or destabilisation of NHS services by new private providers or the lack of accountability for the spending of public money envisaged in the model of GP commissioning promoted in the bill." "The onus is now on the Government to respond fully to the democratically expressed views of the Liberal Democrats." The amendments to the motion were carried virtually unopposed - but we are still gathering support for them. If you are a Liberal Democrat and would like to support to the amendments (which you can read in full here), please contact [email protected] so we can add you to our growing list of signatories. The final agreed motion is on the Party website.