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Health and Education

I agree with the hon. Gentleman that some outrageous scare stories were put out. As was mentioned earlier, for people to be afraid to go into hospital because of an exaggerated fear of what they might get is unacceptable. Many practical things can be done, and we await the Government’s Bill. Simple measures, such as more isolation facilities, have an important part to play. There is the danger that if we simply penalise hospital managers or staff, who often have limited room for manoeuvre, we may penalise the wrong people. We will look hard at what the Government have promoted, but practical measures can be taken to tackle these important areas. Having taken on this role barely a week ago it would presumptuous of me to lecture the House on the answers to all these problems. [Interruption.] Not that I would usually let that stop me. But one of the critical points that I want to make is that Liberal Democrats are passionately committed to making the health service, with its founding principles, work; that there are too many cases where the hard-working individuals within the health service, who are doing their best to deliver quality health care, are thwarted at every turn, whether by centralised targets or by counterproductive instructions from the Government; that we believe that there is an urgent need for health service reform; that many of the market-driven approaches and perhaps dogmatic approaches to private provision need looking again; but that our health service has the potential to be great once again, and we, the Liberal Democrats, will be at the forefront of ensuring that it is.