The switch to GP-led commissioning is already proving to be a success, according to the Conservative MP Chris Skidmore.

The Kingswood MP – who also sits on the Health Select Committee – said that results from new schemes introduced by CCGs across the county were encouraging.

Writing in a blog on the Conservative Home website he admitted that the Health and Social Care Act was one of the “most controversial pieces of legislation” to pass through this Parliament.

But he insists that despite the structural reforms the NHS “remains alive and well”, and Andrew Lansley’s plans to localise decision making are improving health services.

Mr Skidmore pointed to three examples where CCGs have used new powers to introduce local health improvements. These include NHS Nene CCG where nurses have been trained to provide minor injuries care to keep patients out of secondary care; NHS Corby CCG where referrals were cut by 25% and saving £300,000; and at NHS South Devon and Torbay CCG where blood tests are taken locally instead of in outpatient centres.

“As Conservatives, we have always been there for the NHS,” he said. “But we are also prepared to take bold decisions in order to deliver the best service possible, maximising its productivity and reducing waste. In the teeth of the vested interests of those who would preserve the status quo, enacting change can be uncomfortable. But we must argue our case, continuing to press home that the changes we make will benefit every patient. We know that for their sake, reform is not an option but a necessity.”

Inconsistent NHS leadership questioned

The NHS has suffered due to inconsistent leadership over a prolonged period, peers in the House of Lords have been told.

Baroness Cumberlege, a Conservative peer, told the House the number of different health secretaries in recent times has led to a lack of trust and confusion by the health service.

Speaking during the committee stage of the Health Bill, Baroness Cumberlege compared the Sir Alex Ferguson’s 25-year reign at Manchester United and asked “what difference it might make to the NHS” had it had a leader for a similar tenure.

Since 1997, there have been seven different health secretaries – six of which under the previous Labour government.

“One of the real problems that we have, and it exists even if it is the same party in power for a length of time, we lack a consistency of leadership, because the Secretaries of State are here one minute and gone the next,” said Baroness Cumberlege.

“I think that contributes to an NHS that gets confused, that gets fed up and is mistrustful of its masters.”

MPs have approved the Health and Social Care Bill following a two-day debate in Parliament.

The Bill, which won a majority of 65 on its third reading, now passes to the House of Lords – where it is expected to face further challenges.

Despite the plans exposing divisions within the coalition – with four Liberal Democrat MPs voting against the reforms – David Cameron defended the proposals, saying: “I believe that they will lead to a stronger NHS and better outcomes for patients.”

But Shadow Health Secretary John Healey said Cameron was ‘undermining’ the NHS with an “incompetent and bureaucratic reorganisation which puts profit before patients.”

The reforms have triggered warnings that the Bill would “destabilise the NHS as we know it,” as written in a letter signed by a collection of members of the Royal Colleges of GPs, Physicians and Midwives.

The letter fueled debates during Prime Ministers Questions, when David Cameron claimed the support of the health care professionals. Mr Healey said: “When experts like the Royal College of GPs and the Royal College of Nursing criticise David Cameron’s Health Bill, he doesn’t just ignore them – he pretends they support him.”

Facing opposition from Labour as well as health care professionals and patients groups, the Bill’s passage through Parliament has been delayed.

Earlier in the year, it was sent back to the Commons for a series of revisions, which included giving medical professionals other than GPs power over NHS funding and ditching the 2013 deadline for introducing new clinical commissioning groups (CCG).

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said: “Our plans have undergone rigorous scrutiny, led by the NHS Future Forum. They have stood up to the test. No secret plan was unearthed to privatise the NHS, only suggestions put forward to strengthen it.”

However, a significant amendment to the plans regarding the introduction of independent advice concerning abortion was avoided, when MPs overwhelmingly rejected Nadine Dorries’ proposal with 250 votes.

The Conservative backbencher claimed that organisations currently providing counselling profit from encouraging women to terminate pregnancies, something the organisations have denied.

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