Health bill: Simon Burns rejects Shirley Williams criticism
The Health Minister Simon Burns says critics of the NHS reforms including Baroness Williams have got it wrong when they say the Health Secretary will no longer be obliged to "provide a comprehensive National Health Service for the people of England".
He said the government's Health and Social Care Bill, which gets its second reading in the Lords next week, would receive proper scrutiny - more than any other bill in recent years - but there was no need for a special select committee.
The government has put in more controls on competition and a slower pace of change to the original plans for English health services, but this has not proved enough for some Liberal Democrats.