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MPs split on role of the private sector

Labour MP David Hinchliffe has played down reports of a split among members of the Commons health select committee, which he chairs, over its inquiry into private sector involvement in the NHS.

The committee has been unable to agree a final report on the role of the private sector in the health service after taking evidence from a variety of witnesses, including health secretary Alan Milburn, over more than three months. The inquiry was first announced last July but the outcome is not now expected until Easter at the earliest.

According to one newspaper report, the committee has met five times without resolving its differences with most members ranged against Mr Hinchliffe, who is a long-term opponent of private sector involvement in the NHS.

Mr Hinchliffe said: ‘We have met a number of times but that is perfectly normal. You can’t bounce these things through in five minutes.’

He acknowledged he had made public his long-standing concerns about the direction of government policy towards increasing the private sector’s role in healthcare. He added: ‘I don’t know whether the report will reflect that view.’

Mr Hinchliffe suffered an initial blow when the committee voted to exclude Professor Allyson Pollock, its former special advisor who is director of the health policy and health services research unit at University College London, from aiding the inquiry.

Instead she gave formal evidence to the investigation in which she warned that private finance initiative (PFI) developments were not value for money and could leave the NHS with huge financial risk.