Milburn: 'tragedy' reform policies making enemy of private sector

Alan Milburn, who introduced independent sector treatment centres and foundation trusts, was secretary of state from 1999-2003.

He told HSJ it was “deeply regrettable” that through the NHS reform “debacle” the coalition government had “managed to wind the clock back and make the private sector controversial again”.

He said: “I think we were getting to a point where the public and the health service were recognising the public sector and the private sector could be friends rather than enemies so it is a remarkable achievement on the part of a Conservative-led government to have made the private sector less acceptable in the NHS.”

Mr Milburn said it was a “tragedy” for policies such as any qualified provider, which aim to introduce more patient choice. However, he described the private franchise model for failing trusts, such as Circle’s takeover of Hinchingbrooke Health Care, as “limited” for failing to address necessary changes in configuration of services or spread expertise.

Instead, he urged leaders to think outside geographic boundaries to consider moving towards “chains” of organisations run by leading NHS chief executives and competing against the private sector in a “genuinely open, meritocratic market”.

Asked about Labour shadow health secretary Andy Burnham’s commitment to repeal the Health Act if Labour won the next election, Mr Milburn avoided directly answering the question and instead stressed the need for more reform to address the fiscal and demographic challenges.

However, he thought these would be addressed from within the system, rather than resulting from national policies.

Asked if he thought Labour’s current health policy had moved too far to the left, Mr Milburn said: “There is a recipe for electoral success which is that Labour only ever wins when it’s the party of reform. Labour always loses when it’s a party that protects, rather than reforms.

“I hope that everybody in the Labour party listens to that message.”

Mr Milburn, who is the government’s social mobility tsar, spoke to HSJ following his appointment as chair of iWantGreatCare, a patient feedback website.

Under the Department of Health’s information strategy, the government will not set up its own feedback service, instead collating information from such websites into a national portal.