John Reid, England's health secretary, promised the public a more customer friendly health service with an emphasis on prevention rather than just cure if Labour retains power at the next election. Mr Reid, however, stopped short of banning smoking in public places, a move which had been anticipated in many quarters, issuing instead an inscrutable statement that leaves the issue of smoking in pubs and restaurants up in the air.
Speaking at the Labour party conference in Brighton last week, Mr Reid said that "we will help people to make the healthier choice more easily" with a promise that in the future under New Labour it would be "more difficult to do deals in smoke filled rooms."
The Department of Health was unable to expand on Mr Reid's statement and said the details of proposed policies to tackle smoking in public places, obesity, sexual health, and other public health issues would be spelled out in a white paper due to be published shortly.
In response to Mr Reid's comments a spokesperson for the BMA said, "The BMA is pleased that the health secretary has stated that in the future there will be no more deals done in smoke filled rooms and we look forward to finding out what he means by this. In particular, we hope that the public will not have to endure a drink or a meal in smoke filled pubs or restaurants for much longer."
In his speech, Mr Reid focused particularly on accelerating the redistribution of resources to the neediest areas, improving cleanliness in hospitals, tackling methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and greater customisation of services.
In the next few weeks two tier cleaning contracts—which allow hospitals to buy cleaning services from companies that paid workers less than union rates—would be banned from NHS hospitals as part of the package of reforms in the Agenda for Change programme, said Mr Reid.
He also outlined plans to introduce city centre walk-in clinics in London, Newcastle, Leeds, and Manchester, where busy commuters would have access to a general practitioner and all related services.
Among Labour's other promises were more doctors and nurses and more new hospitals. Waiting times of no more than 18 weeks between referral by a general practitioner and an operating date would also become standard, and more community matrons would be introduced for the 18 million people who live with a long term condition.
Conservatives plans, which Mr Reid referred to as "Howard's way," were attacked for diverting £1.2bn ($2.1bn; €1.7bn) to subsidise private health care for those who could afford it while Labour plans to increase NHS spending to £110bn by 2008 were dubbed "the British way." Mr Reid also criticised the Liberal Democrats for being "Howard's little helpers" with policies which aimed to "break up the NHS."
Commenting on Mr Reid's speech, Andrew Lansley, shadow secretary of state for health, said, "NHS professionals, if they had the time to listen to his speech, would have heard nothing which recognised their needs." Mr Lansley gave examples, such as freedom from bureaucracy; power to combat infections; general practitioners able to commission care for patients; and action now to deal with crises in public health, whether sexually transmitted infections or tuberculosis rates. "Patients will have no clearer idea on how they can exercise real choice over the treatments they require and have more control over their health care."
Paul Burstow, the Liberal Democrat's shadow health secretary, said, "Choice is meaningless unless the NHS has enough frontline staff to deliver. What people really want is not this Government's false choice, but quality health care available close to home.
"Labour is dangerously addicted to its targets and tick boxes which get in the way of hard working NHS staff delivering the right care, in the right place, at the right time. The NHS should be answerable to local people not John Reid. It should be responsive to the needs of individual patients not the latest political diktat."