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Secretary of State for Health

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. It is one of the many contradictions in the Conservatives’ so-called health policy that they want independence for the NHS, but they oppose every proposal from local NHS staff for a reorganisation of services. Whenever something goes wrong or they want more money for their own local hospital—as so many Tory Members do—they come straight to me and demand that I intervene. It is completely bizarre. Over and over again, we see that the best care for patients, organised around them, is also the best value for patients’ money. That is why I was so determined that we dealt with the overspending in a minority of hospitals, restored the NHS as a whole to financial balance and ended the unfair system of well managed hospitals in some of the most disadvantaged parts of the country having to bail out the minority of overspenders. It went on for years, it was not fair or efficient, and we stopped it. Of course, that was difficult—especially for NHS staff—but we now have the fairest, strongest and most transparent financial system that the NHS has ever had. That is not my verdict, but that of the Health Service Journal, which said that"““the changes to the financial system brought about during her time will prove a lasting legacy.””"