Dobson: an end to two tier healthcare

Dobson explains the move to Newsnight's Huw Edwards (Dur 4m)

Government to End GP Preference on Waiting Lists

Speaking on BBC2's Newsnight programme, Mr Dobson denied that the move heralded the impending demise of the fundholder system. He said that the Government's main priority was to be fair to everyone - doctors as well as patients.

Equality of waiting for NHS patients from next April

Speaking in the House of Commons during Prime Minister's Question Time, Tony Blair said the reform was based on the "two simple ideas of rebuilding the NHS and fairness." He said that he was "astonished" that the change had been attacked by the Conservatives. "It is a proposal that will ensure that people are treated on the basis of need, not who their doctor is," he argued.

Mr Blair declared: "One of the reasons why this government was elected was to restore the NHS as a proper National Health Service based on need not ability to pay. And that is a manifesto commitment we will carry out with pride."

Mr Dobson told the House that his announcement was an attack on unfairness and not an attack on GP fundholding. "We pledged to change the system so that no patients and no GP practices suffered any longer from the unfairness introduced by the Conservatives," he said.

Maples supports fundholders

But Shadow Health Secretary John Maples insisted that fundholding had "been one of the great successes of the NHS". Mr Maples said: "It has put money, power and responsibility in the hands of GPs."

Mr Dobson retorted that the Tories were still "obsessed with institutions they introduced largely on the advice of a heroin addict and prescription fraudster." This was a reference to Dr Clive Froggatt, who advised the Tories on NHS reform and who was convicted in 1994 for heroin offences involving improper use of prescriptions.