NORTH East MPs are piling pressure on the Government to release a document that critics claim will spell out the dangers posed to the NHS by a controversial overhaul.
Easington MP Grahame Morris has been leading a campaign to force Health Secretary Andrew Lansley to release the NHS “risk register” – claiming failure to do so could amount to the “greatest political cover-up of a generation”.
He has won backing from more than 80 MPs who have signed a Parliamentary motion urging Mr Lansley to comply with an order from Information Commissioner Christopher Graham to publish the document.
Significantly, that includes 11 of his Labour colleagues from the region as well as North East Liberal Democrat MP Ian Swales. And 14 other Lib Dem MPs have also backed the motion, while Mr Morris claimed Tory MPs were supportive – but unable to sign for “political” reasons.
In a further development, a senior regional union official also called on the Government to release the document ahead of a crunch Commons debate on the issue called by Labour today. Mr Morris said: “The risk register identifies risks that are posed by the new Health and Social Care Bill. If Andrew Lansley is serious about his commitment to transparency and openness, why doesn’t he publish the risk register?”
The Labour MP claimed the document could potentially identify threats to patient care, increased costs and fragmentation of the NHS.
“If he’s refusing to publish that report against the recommendations of the information commissioner, then it’s the biggest political cover-up of a generation,” he added.
Mr Morris also said a number of Tory MPs had indicated privately that the register should be published. While they were unwilling to sign his Early Day Motion for political reasons, he claimed they had made representations to the Health Secretary.
Labour MP Ian Means, who represents Gateshead, said: “Opposition to Tory health reforms is gaining pace. It is clear that the Secretary of State for Health has something to hide when he goes to such lengths to bury a simple service level risk assessment of his own proposals.”
Unison regional secretary Gill Hale blasted the Government’s plans for the NHS, saying: “This is about the privatisation of the NHS. We are very opposed to it. And clearly the information that is being sought might shed some light on the true cost of this reorganisation.”
The Government was yesterday told by Jarrow MP Stephen Hepburn to drop its “tawdry” plans for the NHS.
The Labour MP claimed voters recognised the Health and Social Bill as a Tory attempt to privatise the NHS as he urged ministers to stop trying to “pull the wool” over people’s eyes.
He spoke out as Health Secretary Andrew Lansley and his ministers were being questioned during question time in the House of Commons.
“The vast majority of people whether they work for the health service or they use the health service see this Bill for exactly what it is – a Tory plan to privatise the National Health Service,” said Mr Hepburn. “When is the minister going to listen to people and stop trying to pull the wool over their eyes because it’s not working?”
A Department of Health spokesman said the Government was happy to take part in debate on the issue, but had made its position very clear.
He said: “Risk registers are departmental management tools that play a key role in the formation of Government policy. We believe that their publication would risk seriously damaging the quality of advice given to ministers and of any subsequent decision making.”
