Lord Darzi was quizzed by MPs last week over whether his vision was not merely ‘warm words’ and how it would be costed.
The health minister confirmed to the health select committee that changes under the next stage review would be funded out of the£110bn NHS budget. “It is costed within the system… some proposals in the enabling report are also costed as part of that package,” he said.
The previous week the minister had said a “dedicated pot of money” would support the announcements in the review.
Lord Darzi said there were structures to ensure implementation, adding primary care trusts would be held to account over producing strategic plans. MPs also asked questions about patient choice and quality incentives and asked the minister to explain the difference between a polyclinic and GP-led health centre.
Pressed on how he would measure the success of the reform plan, Lord Darzi said the Department of Health would seek to compare achievements with similar countries and look for year on year progress that will be tracked in an annual report.
Conservative MP Peter Bone challenged Lord Darzi and NHS chief executive David Nicholson over the NHS constitution, asking whether it was “purely New Labour spin” and suggested it had “no real practical benefit whatsoever”.
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