After cross-party outcry, Yvette Cooper drops plans to abolish NHS patient champion Healthwatch

Plans reversed after criticism

Cooper said patients need a voice in the NHS and that she had promised to review reforms affecting public involvement in local services. The change follows concerns raised by Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat parliamentarians.

Gillian Merron, a Department of Health and Social Care minister in the Lords, is due to confirm the decision when peers debate the health bill on Wednesday. MPs and peers had warned that abolishing Healthwatch would remove important oversight.

A wider role for Healthwatch

Thea Stein, chief executive of the Nuffield Trust and a former NHS trust head in Leeds, said the organisation’s independence gave it credibility. She argued that abolition would not address why patients’ concerns are often not heard.

Further health bill changes

The changes suggest Cooper is reviewing the health bill inherited from her predecessor, Wes Streeting, and removing measures she considers misguided. Stein said the reversal should be followed by a broader change in how the health service responds to patients.