NHS Commissioning Board (Mandate)

Jeremy Corbyn Excerpts

Tuesday 13th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend, as a GP, will recognise from the mandate that a lot of the improvements that we need in the NHS are in primary care. The budget for the NHS is protected, but demand for services is going up, so we need to make these changes. I will give her one example where I think that this is particularly important. The number of hours it will save GPs if the majority of prescriptions are ordered online, which does not happen at the moment, could transform life for more than 8,000 GP surgeries up and down the country.

[Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North) (Lab)]

One of the great problems the NHS has is the millstone of private finance initiative costs that are so damaging to so many hospitals. The other millstone is the huge profit made by the private sector on contracted out and privatised services. Is it not time for the Government to give a clear directive to the NHS to employ its staff to deliver its services and borrow money in the traditional way to build new facilities, so that public money goes into a public service and the public are not lining the pockets of the banks and private health providers instead?

[Mr Hunt]

I hope we can move beyond the debate about public good, private bad and private good, public bad that has dogged the NHS for many years. I believe there is a role for the independent sector and the voluntary sector. Of course, the primary role will be for the traditional NHS. However, when the private and voluntary sectors are used will not be a matter not for politicians or parties; but for local doctors on the ground. I think that in the vast majority of cases, they will want to use and contract with traditional NHS services, but it is important that they have the choice to do what is in the interests of the patients for whom they are responsible.