NHS Next Stage Review

Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister – in the House of Commons at 12:32 pm on 4 July 2007.

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Photo of Alan Johnson Alan Johnson The Secretary of State for Health 12:32, 4 July 2007

My right hon. Friend is right, particularly when he describes the conservatism of Members on the Opposition Benches, which is hardly surprising. We needed to be top-down and to set targets to transform the situation in the NHS, particularly in relation to waiting lists. My right hon. Friend has a long and proud record of standing tall for the NHS and of arguing for the necessary changes. The point that I made both yesterday and today is that the NHS needed to be, in effect, in intensive care. It is now on the road to recovery. We need a different approach, and we need that to be formulated into a new constitution for the NHS that can make it fit for the 21st century.