Reorganisation of the NHS and social care

That this House notes the Government has published a White Paper setting out proposals for a major reorganisation of the delivery of health and social care in England; further notes that the Government plans to divide the NHS into local statutory Integrated Care Systems creating the potential for organisations which are not publicly accountable to take key roles in developing plans to address the health, social care and public health needs of local systems; is concerned that such organisations will then be in a position to influence decisions about the deployment of public resources and that this presents the possibility for conflicts of interest; recognises there is concern that local plans will differ and lead to a postcode lottery; notes that NHS England and NHS Improvement carried out a consultation, Integrating care - Next steps to building strong and effective integrated care systems over Christmas and New Year which proposed fundamental changes to the NHS; is further concerned that the consultation was held over such a short period during the covid-19 outbreak, particularly given that the NHS and social care workers who would be affected had been working incredibly hard under immense stress and many would have been unlikely to engage with that consultation; is concerned it was not possible for people to attend public meetings during this time; and calls on the Government to pause the whole process until all covid-19 restrictions are lifted and then carry out a public consultation setting out clearly what those proposals would mean for patients and staff.