Leaked Paper Reveals Labour Fears On NHS
Patricia Hewitt and other ministers have privately conceded that the government is in real difficulty over its efforts to sell controversial health reforms, a minute of a private briefing reveals.
{mosimage}At a brainstorming on the future of the NHS between the health secretary and ministers last Thursday, some raised anxieties about the way the reforms were being presented to the public. “Too often the debate on public service reforms seemed to pitch the government against frontline staff,” said the minute, which was marked restricted.
One unnamed minister warned Ms Hewitt that financial pressures were mounting too. This was because “increasing life expectancy and medical advances would lead to new pressures, which would need to be reconciled with the public’s expectations about taxation”.
The minute reveals that Ms Hewitt admitted that the government needed to “be smarter about communications”. She said the government needed to involve senior NHS staff to help make the case for change.
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