The NHS Reinstatement Bill would ensure that physiotherapy services are delivered in an integrated, multidisciplinary way, the shadow environment secretary and former physiotherapist Rachael Maskell told Frontline.
Rachael Maskell, the shadow environment secretary and former physiotherapist
Labour MP Margaret Greenwood will re-introduce the bill to parliament on 13 July, following an all-party meeting in late June organised by Ms Maskell and campaigners for the bill.
‘It was a very positive upbeat meeting, and the committee room was packed,’ said Ms Maskell.
‘There were 17 MPs, as well as support from all sorts of groups who have been campaigning against the reorganisation of the NHS and what this government has done to the NHS.’
The bill, the work of Lord David Owen, professor of health policy Allyson Pollock and barrister Peter Roderick, was originally presented to the House of Commons by Green Party MP Caroline Lucas.
It achieved a second reading in March, but there was no debate because of filibustering by Conservative members.
The bill sets out to end the health service’s internal market, end contracting, integrate health and social care and introduce national terms and conditions for all staff employed in providing NHS services.
‘And it will also ensure that there is a planned – as opposed to a purchaser/provider split – model for the provision of healthcare in the future,’ Ms Maskell said.
‘In other words, you can ensure you plan your services and the resources needed to deliver a comprehensive service, such as a physiotherapy service, using an integrated, multidisciplinary approach.
‘So the health service will work in a much more integrated way, as it was set up to do, and not be fragmented as it is now.’
The bill is supported by the Labour, Green and Scottish nationalist parties.
This article was amended on 13 July 2016 to remove a comment from CSP policy officer Rachel Newton.
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