Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Health – in the House of Commons at 11:30 am on 22 February 2005.
Because there is not a shred of evidence to show that there were undue problems with the first contract. Twenty-five thousand treatments have been carried out under that contract and patient satisfaction is 96 per cent., which is comparable with anything that we have ever done in the NHS. Of course, when one embarks on such an undertaking, there are teething problems. However, we should be careful to ensure that we are on the side not only of the health care providers in the NHS but of the patient. I know that the Liberals always put the interest of the patient second to that of the producer, but the 600,000 extra scans that we procured for NHS patients mean that, for example, in Newham hospital, which I visited last week, people are now waiting less than one week. That is a huge improvement for patients. It is one of the reasons why, when purchasing another 2.4 million scans, I was willing not only to extend the number of NHS scans by 1.4 million but to procure another 1 million from the independent sector, in the knowledge that they would all be delivered free—with no charges, unlike what would happen under a Conservative Government—to all patients in the NHS.