This week, my colleague Andrew Lansley quite rightly corrected Ben Bradshaw’s misleading assessment of Conservative plans for NHS spending. Bradshaw has a tendency to be over-zealous in his role as the Department of Health’s attack dog, and this wasn’t the first time in the last year that the Minister has been somewhat economical with the truth.
During July 2008, the Government published a strategy for Primary Care with the intention of giving patients more choice over their GP. Obviously worried that it wouldn’t get much coverage, Ben Bradshaw duly went on the offensive against family doctors. The Minister, who, it would be reasonable to assume, held an extensive collection of data, barked: ‘There is no doubt there are some areas where gentlemen’s agreements operate that mitigate against lists being open to new patients and therefore work against real patient choice.’ But the evidence for this savaging was rather thinner than we might have expected. Bradshaw later admitted in Parliament that he was basing his claims on a mere fifteen letters received at the department. We can only hope that this is not a reflection of the rigorousness of other studies carried out in Richmond House.
Continuing, Bradshaw cited research indicating that one practice in England had only two patients. What he neglected to mention was that the practice in question, Burrswood Nursing Home, treated 650 patients that year. I understand that the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, who incidentally has written throughout his career on matters of ethics, is a Patron.
The trend has continued into the New Year (perhaps I could suggest that the Minister make a belated resolution to be more truthful?) as Bradshaw threatened regulation on fat and salt content in foods. Of course, it’s laudable for any Government to attempt to improve public health in a meaningful way. On this occasion, though, I am afraid the Minister may have slightly overestimated the scope of his own authority. Regulation of such matters is actually a matter for the EU.
Are such spurious claims really the best Labour Ministers can do? More worryingly, are these political manipulations the best that NHS patients and the British public can expect?
Mike Penning is MP for Hemel Hempstead and a Shadow Minister for Health.
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