George seeks Health Minister's assurances on local voice in NHS

12.07.2010  In this afternoon’s Health Questions session in Parliament St Ives Andrew George MP asked an important question to the Secretary of State for Health the Rt Honourable Andrew Lansley MP.
 
During the debate on the new Government White Paper, which proposes changes to the structure of the NHS, Mr George asked the Minister to reassure local people that the proposed changes would not be the equivalent of the top down organisation that the Coalition agreement derided.
 
Mr George went on to ask the Minister to provide reassurance that the proposed changes,  including the abolition of Primary Care Trusts (PCTs), would deliver the greater say for patients and local authorities that would have resulted in their being represented on PCTs. Mr George also asked how many more GP commissioning bodies there would be than the PCTs.
 
The Minister responded by assuring that the new proposals will give a larger say to local communities in areas like Cornwall.