NHS (60th Anniversary)

Yes, I did not have the opportunity, I am afraid, to listen to my hon. Friend on ““Newsnight””, but I understand that he made it clear subsequently that he had not been correctly quoted. I thought that the Secretary of State was rising to respond—I hoped positively—to the fact that 43 per cent. of NHS staff, including 54 per cent. of medical and dental staff and 49 per cent. of junior managers, said that they would speak critically of the NHS as it is now. That needs to change, and if that is not critically important to the Secretary of State, it ought to be. People in the NHS listening to our debate this evening would say, ““Don't just say thank you to us or express appreciation for what has been achieved. We know that the public support us, but at the same time they know that we are not allowed to achieve what we should achieve, and that although we've seen a doubling of resources in the NHS in the last 10 years, this hasn't reached the front line and it isn't delivering the patient gain that it should. From our point of view, not only do we need organisational stability, empowerment of professionals and freedom to deliver for patients, but we are prepared to be held to account for the outcomes that we achieve and held to account by patients for the services that we provide.”” Patients should be able to access choice and control over their health care and, to an extent, those with long-term conditions should even, where possible, be able to manage personalised budgets.