NHS Reorganisation

I beg to move, To leave out from ““House”” to the end of the Question, and to add instead thereof:"““welcomes the Government’s determination to reform primary care trusts (PCTs) and strategic health authorities (SHAs) to ensure all patients get the services they need, to shift the focus of services more towards prevention and tackling health inequalities, to engage better with GPs in developing services that meet patients’ needs, to reduce bureaucracy and to deliver better value for money for taxpayers; further welcomes the widespread support within PCTs and SHAs for the principles on which Commissioning a Patient-Led NHS has been based; and further welcomes the Government’s consultation on reforming ambulance trusts to ensure more care is provided in the home and at the scene, to give better advice to patients over the telephone and to deliver faster response times to save more lives, in line with the recommendations from the National Ambulance Adviser Peter Bradley’s review ‘Taking Healthcare to the Patient: Transforming Ambulance Services.’.””" I think that this is the first occasion on which I have crossed swords with the hon. Member for Eddisbury (Mr. O’Brien). I well remember the by-election in July 1999, when the hon. Gentleman only just held off a challenge from Labour. That near-success was almost entirely due to the excellent campaign, whose slogan was ““Vote Labour or the fox gets it””. None the less, it is a pleasure to see the hon. Gentleman at the Dispatch Box. He has consolidated his position in Eddisbury, on which I congratulate him. I wish him a long career as an Opposition spokesman. The NHS is being restored to good health. It has more doctors, more nurses and better facilities. The revolution in quantity of care must, however, be matched by a revolution in quality of care, with equal access for all and no charges for operations. That means new types of health provision, more say for patients in how, where and when they are treated, and tackling ill health at source.