The prime minister has faced professional and political opposition to his plans David Cameron is to set out “five guarantees” for the future of the NHS in England amid details of when changes to planned reforms will be considered.
The prime minister will insist the NHS will remain free at the point of use, care will be improved, budgets will rise and waiting times be “kept low”.
Labour said the PM had broken pledges on the NHS and could not be trusted.
A group looking at how controversial NHS reforms can be improved is expected to report to Cabinet early next week.
Ministers are awaiting the findings of the Future Forum, the body set up to lead the consultation on the coalition’s proposed shake-up of the NHS.
The government’s plans to give GPs more commissioning powers , increase competition in the NHS and abolish primary care trusts have been criticised by medical professionals and are on hold pending the results of a “listening exercise” which concluded last week.
In the latest of a series of speeches aimed at reassuring people about the NHS shake-up, Mr Cameron will say that ministers have “learnt a lot about how to make our plans better” during the two-month consultation.
He will restate the government’s case for modernising the health service – plans which have caused tension between Conservative and Lib Dem partners – saying that, if no action is taken, the NHS could “buckle under the pressure of an ageing population and the rising cost of treatments”.
But again promising to get patients and NHS professionals on board with the plans, he will outline “five guarantees” about the future shape of the NHS.
He will say:
The NHS will remain a universal serviceChanges will improve “efficient and integrated care” not hinder itHospital waiting times will be “kept low”NHS spending will be increased, not reducedThe NHS will not be sold off and competition will benefit patients
“We will modernise the NHS – because changing the NHS today is the only way to protect the NHS for tomorrow,” he will say.
“We will stick by our core principle of an NHS that is more efficient, more transparent and more diverse… But I will make sure at all times that any of the changes we make to the NHS will always be consistent with upholding these five guarantees.
“There can be no compromise on this. It is what patients expect. It is what doctors and nurses want. And it is what this government will deliver.”
“David Cameron is desperately trying to make ‘I love the NHS’ his signature tune but the reality is very different”
John Healey Shadow Health SecretaryNHS overhaul: What next?
Ministers have already conceded there will be substantial changes to the Health and Social Care Bill as a result of the process but the opposition, and the doctors’ body the British Medical Association, have called for the legislation to be scrapped entirely.
“David Cameron is desperately trying to make ‘I love the NHS’ his signature tune but the reality is very different,” Shadow Health Secretary John Healey said.
“With real terms cuts to funding, more patients waiting longer and ideological plans to break up services, he has broken his personal pledge to protect the NHS and is instead taking it backwards. The NHS is not safe in his hands.”
The BBC understands the Future Forum report will be delivered to Cabinet either next Monday or Tuesday and ministers will respond swiftly.
It is understood there will be no decision on whether to send the bill back to committee stage in the Commons, which would entail detailed further scrutiny by MPs and further delay to the proposals, until ministers have digested the report’s recommendations.
In a recent speech, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg suggested such an outcome was likely.
Mr Clegg has also said he will oppose the idea of a regulator promoting competition in the health service, seemingly put himself at odds with Health Secretary Andrew Lansley – the architect of the proposed reforms.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.