Andrew Mitchell MP has welcomed the changes to the Government’s NHS reforms following recommendations made by the independent NHS Future Forum earlier this week. At the time of going to press Sutton’s MP was writing personally to all his constituents who have previously contacted him expressing their views and concerns on this issue. The letter will update them on the changes to the Health and Social Care Bill, which will be recommitted to a Public Bill Committee, so that Parliament has a full opportunity to scrutinise them. The plans will mean less bureaucracy and waste, a greater focus on quality and results for patients, and more freedom for doctors, nurses and the wider frontline. Andrew Mitchell MP said, “I hope that constituents will feel that I and the Government have listened to and taken on board their concerns. “The NHS is facing future challenges: an ageing population and rising costs of drugs and treatment. That is why modernisation is so essential – even Labour accept the NHS needs to change. Two months ago, the Government decided to listen to the experts from the independent NHS Future Forum as to how our proposals could be bettered. We have learned from them, and we are now improving our modernisation plans for the NHS. “What the NHS needs now above all else is certainty, and we will give all those who work in it that certainty. “The independent NHS Future Forum confirmed that there is widespread support for the principles underpinning our plans: more patient choice, more control for doctors and nurses on the frontline; a focus on quality for patients rather than narrow process targets; and more clout for members of the public. “Their core recommendations involve substantive changes to our original plans, all of which stand to improve care for patients, and the Government accepts them. These changes are about involving a wider group of professionals in the commissioning of health services, introducing stronger safeguards to protect against competition where it would damage patient care, and a safe transition building on the approaches that have been tried and tested by previous governments. “The steps we are taking today will safeguard the health service for tomorrow – and in the years to come.”