22 January 2012
Last updated at 08:48 ET
The health bill is currently working its way through Parliament
Planned reforms of the NHS in England must go ahead, despite fresh criticism from MPs, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has said.
The Commons health select committee is expected to say that plans to scrap primary care trusts and other changes are hampering efforts to save billions.
Mr Clegg said ministers had gone “a long way” to address concerns, and that the NHS could not be “frozen in time”.
But Labour said the “reckless re-organisation” must be halted.
Plans to restructure the NHS in England and devolve more power to GPs, included in the Health and Social Care Bill, are going through Parliament.
But despite a host of concessions by ministers, professional bodies representing GPs, nurses and midwives, as well as health service unions, are calling for the whole plan to be abandoned.
‘Damning indictment’
Mike Farrar, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, an independent group which represents those who work in the NHS, said in a statement: “I am
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