The coalition is prescribing bad policy and worse politics
Whitehall officials fear meltdown. There is still time – just – for the government to change course on NHS reform, writes Philip Stephens
NHS reform
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The NHS is facing its biggest structural upheaval in decades, with family doctors given more control of spending to buy patient care, at a time when the service is under pressure to make efficiency savings
Lansley defends role of competition in NHS
Plans to level the playing field between private and NHS providers of healthcare have proved the most contentious aspect of reforms opposed by the medical profession
Lack of clarity taints NHS reform
A look at why the reform programme is proving so controversial
Clegg fury at Tory moves to kill health bill
Lib Dem leader fears ministers’ lobbying could destabilise coalition
House of Lords votes against NHS bill
Cameron tells MPs it is vital to reform NHS
Lansley under fire over NHS reforms
Tories fear bill could damage election chances
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Many recoil in horror when words such as efficiency and profit are even mentioned in the field of healthcare, writes Iain Martin
A second opinion on NHS reform
UK government should drop a misconceived bill
Parts of NHS reform mess could be saved
Lansley’s regulator will be responsible for foundation trusts, helping set the prices they get and deciding how much competition they face
Bring back matron
The Care Quality Commission must not hesitate to shut down services if failures are not corrected. However, the government must provide the resources it needs to do the job
NHS calamity to keep Cameron awake at night
What has emerged can be described as a dangerous hotchpotch of measures certain to bring tears to patients and politicians, writes Philip Stephens
The way to save the NHS – close hospitals
Few things frighten politicians more than campaigns against closure of constituency accident and emergency or maternity units, writes Philip Stephens
UK’s health halt
The risk was always that compromises would undermine the main goals of the health service reform – and, sadly, that seems to have happened
UK health fiasco is becoming contagious
This threatens to taint the cause of modernisation across the public services. The poll tax was probably the last example of a policy as badly conceived as it was politically self-destructive, writes Philip Stephens
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