Lib Dems Urge Burnham to Block NHS Bill Scrapping 2 Safety Bodies

1 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Aug 10

Andy Burnham is being pressed by the Liberal Democrats to back amendments to the NHS Modernisation Bill, arguing it would dismantle key patient-safety safeguards before a 7 September third reading.
Two bodies are central to the warning: Healthwatch England would be abolished and its role handed to integrated care boards and councils, while HSSIB would be folded into the Care Quality Commission.
Lib Dems say those changes would weaken independent scrutiny, remove automatic safe-space protections for whistleblowers and end the NHS duty to cooperate with the CQC on safety data.
DHSC rejects that claim, saying the bill preserves safe-space provisions, cuts bureaucracy and gives patients a stronger voice, while the reforms also abolish NHS England to bring control back into government.
The party has linked the risk to the Stafford Hospital scandal—where at least 400 more deaths than expected were found between 2005 and 2008—and plans to fight the bill in the Lords.