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NHS bill: Lords and MPs debating healthcare shake-up NHS bill: Rebel Lib Dem MPs fail to derail plans
(about 2 hours later)
Controversial plans to overhaul the way the NHS is run in England are being debated in the Lords, as Labour says the bill can still be stopped. A Commons motion by rebel Lib Dem MPs calling for the government to drop plans to overhaul the way the NHS is run in England has been defeated.
Peers are examining the Health and Social Care Bill while a Labour-led NHS debate takes place in the Commons. The government won the vote on the Health and Social Care Bill by 314 to 260 - a majority of 54.
Labour says it will support a motion by rebel Lib Dem MPs calling for the bill to be dropped. A second Labour-led motion also calling for it to be scrapped was defeated by 314 to 258 - a majority of 56.
But Health Minister Simon Burns told the BBC he was "very confident" it would become law by the spring. The bill also cleared another hurdle in the House of Lords after Labour attempts to delay its implementation.
The legislation is now coming to the end of its report stage in the Lords. The final debate at third reading is expected next Monday - after which it will return to the Commons for MPs to examine changes made in the Lords. Labour had supported rebel Lib Dem leader Andrew George as he urged ministers to hold a summit with medical and patient groups to discuss fresh changes to the NHS.
On Tuesday the government won a series of votes in the Lords - on abolishing the General Social Care Council, the National Patient Safety Agency and on a bid to clarify the law to ensure the Human Rights Act applied when people were being cared for in their own homes - the government argued it already applied. 'Very confident'
Meanwhile MPs are debating Labour's motion: "That this House: notes the e-petition signed by 170,000 people calling on the government to drop the Health and Social Care Bill; and declines to support the bill in its current form." He said as it stood, the bill had "many failings" and the amendments the government had accepted made it "less bad but not sufficiently good enough" to pass through Parliament.
Rebel amendment But Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said the changes were "the right idea".
Five Lib Dem backbench MPs - Andrew George, John Pugh, Adrian Sanders, Greg Mulholland and David Ward - have put forward their own amendment which "declines to support the bill in its current form" and calls for an "urgent summit" of government, health and patients' groups to plan reforms. Earlier he said Labour's call for the bill to be abandoned was "a desperate ploy from a desperate party".
Labour sources have told the BBC the party will back the amendment, to try to bolster Lib Dem opposition and build a cross-party alliance to defeat the bill ahead of its final reading in the Commons next week. Health Minister Simon Burns told the BBC he was "very confident" it would become law by the spring.
In the Commons, Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said he feared it was "now sheer gut loyalty, political pride and the need to save face that are the only forces driving a deeply defective Bill towards the statute book". The bill faces a final major test in the Lords on Monday, before being sent back to the House of Commons.
But Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said Labour's call for the bill to be abandoned were "a desperate ploy from a desperate party".
The bill gives GPs and other clinicians much more responsibility for spending the NHS budget in England, and encourages greater competition with the private sector and charities.The bill gives GPs and other clinicians much more responsibility for spending the NHS budget in England, and encourages greater competition with the private sector and charities.
The government says changes are needed to make the NHS more efficient and better equipped to deal with challenges such as an ageing population and the rising costs of new drugs and treatments.The government says changes are needed to make the NHS more efficient and better equipped to deal with challenges such as an ageing population and the rising costs of new drugs and treatments.
But many groups representing medical professionals have come out against the plans, and Labour says such a huge reorganisation should not be forced on the NHS when it is under intense financial pressure.But many groups representing medical professionals have come out against the plans, and Labour says such a huge reorganisation should not be forced on the NHS when it is under intense financial pressure.
Meanwhile the Royal College of GPs, which opposes the bill, has indicated it is willing to work with the government on implementing the changes.Meanwhile the Royal College of GPs, which opposes the bill, has indicated it is willing to work with the government on implementing the changes.
Plaid Cymru's health spokesman at Westminster, MP Hywel Williams, said that the bill - which applies to England - would have "significant effects" on Welsh patients who used specialist NHS services in England. And he said longer term funding problems could arise - because there could be a cut in Wales's funding under the Barnett formula, if health spending in England were to fall. Plaid Cymru's health spokesman at Westminster, MP Hywel Williams, said that the bill - which applies to England - would have "significant effects" on Welsh patients who used specialist NHS services in England.
He said longer-term funding problems could arise - because there could be a cut in Wales's funding under the Barnett formula, if health spending in England were to fall.