NHS Reorganisation

I have already given way to the right hon. Gentleman, and I am now going to conclude rapidly. Contrary to what the right hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne said, we have heard organisations from right across the NHS supporting the principles of the White Paper. The British Medical Association says that it"““strongly supports greater clinical involvement in the design and management””" of the health service. The Royal College of Nursing said:"““The principles on which the proposed reforms are based—placing patients at the heart of the NHS, focusing on clinical outcomes and empowering health professionals—are both welcome and supported by the RCN.””" The King's Fund said that it"““strongly supports the aims of the White Paper””." The National Association of Primary Care described the White Paper as"““a unique opportunity to raise the bar in the commissioning and delivery of care for patients.””" The chairman of the NHS Alliance said that it provides"““a unique opportunity for frontline GPs... to make a real difference to the health of their patients””" The Foundation Trust Network said:"““the vision for the NHS articulated in the White Paper is the right one—putting patients and carers at the centre””." The right hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne made a number of specific points. He said that the reforms were an ideological gamble. Well, if they are, they are based on an ideology once shared by the Labour party. And if there is an ideology, it is the belief that patients and clinicians in the health service know best. That is not a gamble at all; it is a certainty. The right hon. Gentleman talked about reorganisation, but he did not say that the number of managers in primary care trusts rose all the way through to last year in the face of the impending crisis in finances over which the Labour Government presided. He did not tell us that last year primary care trusts spent £261 million on consultancy—an 80% increase in such expenditure in two years. The right hon. Gentleman gave us the benefit of some of his figures—some of his dodgy numbers—so let me give him a real number. Our decisions to cut the cost of management and administration in the NHS will release £1.9 billion of savings a year by 2014-15. That money will be reinvested directly to support front-line care, so there will be not only a real increase in the resources available to the NHS, but a real change and increase in the resources that get to the front line, because we are cutting the costs of administration and back offices. Let me make this clear—