THE doctor leading the shake up of the NHS in Oxfordshire last night welcomed major concessions on proposed reforms by the Government.

Wholesale changes to the Government’s controversial NHS reform bill were unveiled yesterday by Prime Minister David Cameron.

Last year the new Coalition Government announced that by 2013 doctors would be expected to take direct control of the £1bn NHS budget.

And Oxfordshire GPs are set to be one of the areas leading the way in the radical shake-up.

The replacement of the county’s primary care trust with a single GP consortium for the county is at the centre of the reorganisation.

GPs will remain the key players, but nurses and consultants are set to be included on the boards of new GP groups responsible for commissioning health care.

Dr Stephen Richards, the doctor elected by Oxfordshire GPs to oversee the reorganisation, said family doctors would be happy to see hospital colleagues handed a bigger role in the reformed NHS.

Despite the decision to relax the 2013 deadline, Dr Richards said he hoped to see a new look NHS in place in Oxfordshire by next year.

The health workers union Unison accused Mr Cameron of creating “a Frankenstein Bill” which would still allow private companies to grab profitable parts of the health service.

But Dr Richards, a Goring GP, said: “The Government has recognised that there were components of the Bill that clinical people were understandably worried about.

“These concerns have been addressed.

“It means we can get on with the work that needs to be done.”

Dr Richards said fears about increased competition had been tackled head on, with the Government making clear that it did not want to see private companies “cherry picking” NHS patients and business.

Dr Ken Williamson, who is the co-chairman of Oxfordshire’s Keep Our NHS Public campaign, said the Government had accepted all the changes suggested by a panel of experts, including more controls on competition.

Dr Williamson said: “This is a U-turn.

“But it remains to be seen whether this could be privatisation by the back door.”

Mr Cameron, also MP for Witney, said: “We have listened, we have learned, and we are improving our plans for the NHS.

“The fundamentals of our plans – more control to patients, more power to doctors and nurses, less bureaucracy in the NHS – they are as strong today as they have ever been.

“But the shape of our plans, the detail of how we’re going to make all this work, that really has changed as a direct result of this consultation.”

Mr Cameron’s coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats, had opposed aspects of the original plans.

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg said his party’s demands had been “handsomely met”.

But Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison, said: “The bill will pave the way for private companies to grab any part of the NHS where they think they can turn a profit.

“Once the NHS is opened up to competition, it becomes subject to European Competition laws and there is no turning back.”

In addition to the GP consortium, six new health areas are to be created within Oxfordshire.

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