Angie Bray Defends Health Service Reforms

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MP votes against Private Members' Bill on NHS

The Ealing Central and Acton Conservative MP, Angie Bray, has defended her decision to vote against a Private Member's Bill about the NHS.

241 MPs supported Labour MP Clive Efford's Bill which aims to reverse the Governments Health and Social Care Act.

Many MPs didn't turn up for the vote - Angie Bray was one of 18 MPs who voted against.

Labour's Prospective Parliamentary candidate for Ealing Central and Acton, Rupa Huq, said:

''This is nothing if not a slap in the face for all those concerned Ealing Central and Acton residents who are worried about the direction that our Health Service is going in. Angie Bray and her Tory colleagues would rather sell off NHS contracts to their millionaire donor pals than have it free at the point of demand. But the fight is not over yet.''

Ms Bray said the bill didn't seriously address any of the challenges that the NHS faces and it would take decision making away from the doctors and back to the politicians.

''The bill opposes private sector involvement at every level while I believe that patients can benefit from the skills and innovation the private and charity sectors can bring. The NHS should be about world class healthcare which remains free at the point of delivery and in my view patients are more concerned about the quality of the service than whether it is provided entirely by the state.

''The bill also wants to put the Secretary of State legally in charge of providing every aspect of healthcare delivery - along the lines of 'the man in Whitehall knows best'.

''I believe that while he must remain overall responsible and accountable to Parliament he cannot line manage every decision in what is now a very large and complex organisation. Surely doctors and other clinicians are in a much better position to make meaningful decisions for their parents at a local level and most surveys show that people prefer to have doctors rather than politicians in charge of their healthcare.'

Clive Efford’s Bill now goes to a committee of MPs, there will be a third reading in Parliament and then it will go to the Lords for approval.

27th November 2014