MPs approve NHS bill as Labour bid fails: Operation 'ruin NHS' is full steam ahead
The government's health changes have survived their final parliamentary test and are set to become law.
A Labour call for MPs to postpone their final consideration of the NHS overhaul until an assessment of the potential risks is published was defeated by 82 votes.
The House of Lords approved the Health and Social Care Bill on late on Monday evening.
The government hopes it will now get Royal Assent and become law by Easter.
The Health and Social Care Bill has had a difficult passage through Parliament with the government conceding substantial changes to the legislation.
The government overcame the final major parliamentary obstacle to the bill when it defeated the Labour motion on the issue of the NHS risk register by 328 to votes to 246.
Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said, as the Bill was debated: "The only hope that I can give to people worried about the future of the NHS today is that this might be the end of the bill but it is just the beginning of our campaign."
But Health Secretary Andrew Lansley told the Commons: "The truth is, this is political opportunism dressed up as principle. This is a debate for no purpose."
Ahead of the debate, Conservative and Lib Dem ministers "banged" the table at a cabinet meeting to mark the impending passing of the NHS reforms into law.
It won't officially come into force until the Queen has signed the bill and it returns to the Commons for Royal Assent some time before Easter.
The legislation abolishes Strategic Health Authorities and Primary Care Trusts and gives much greater control over care budgets and commissioning decisions to GPs and other health professionals.
Professional bodies representing doctors, nurses and other NHS workers have joined opposition politicians in fighting the changes.
There has also been criticism from several leading Liberal Democrats of Conservative Health Secretary Andrew Lansley's plans. But the prime minister's spokesman said there had been "cross-party banging" of the table in cabinet.
He added that it would become law before the Easter Recess, which starts next Tuesday.
But unions said they would not relent in their opposition to the bill when it becomes law.
"We will continue to campaign hard to try and mitigate the worst excesses of this bill," said Unison general secretary Dave Prentis, adding that ministers were ignoring the "groundswell of opposition" to the proposals.
"Patients will have a two-tier health service and where they live will determine the healthcare they receive."
Members of Unison, which represents more than a million public sector workers, held a minute's silence outside Parliament in protest at the changes.
People who think this is a crap idea:
- The British Medical Association,
- the Royal College of Nursing,
- the Royal College of GPs,
- the Royal College of Midwives
- the Faculty of Public Health
- EVERYONE ON EARTH
People who like this idea:
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