I do respect the hon. Gentleman's experience in the job, but he did not explain his policy when I was first in the Department and he has not done very well this time. He described a different standard for children and more serious cases, but there already is one in A and E departments. He seems to envisage a world of much more rigid, locally set standards, but the four-hour commitment is simply a cut-through standard—the minimum standard—that helps the whole system to work so that everybody knows where they stand. He is describing just basic, good clinical practice to bring through children and those in more serious need first. If he will forgive me, I do not think that he is putting forward a policy that will deliver clarity; it is a recipe for confusion.
Health Bill [Lords]
Proceeding contribution from
Andy Burnham
(Labour)
in the House of Commons on Monday, 8 June 2009.
It occurred during Debate on bills on Health Bill [Lords].
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493 c559 Session
2008-09Chamber / Committee
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