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Health secretary wants more autonomy for hospitals

Britain's new health secretary yesterday indicated he will push ahead with controversial plans to give hospitals more autonomy, a move which many fear could undermine Britain's welfare state.

John Reid took over the job on Thursday after the surprise resignation of Alan Milburn, who said he wished to spend more time with his family.

Asked in an BBC radio interview whether he would continue with plans to create so-called foundation hospitals with greater autonomy, Reid replied, "I'd read some of the comments this morning that say they doubt if I'm a modernizer. I don't know where these people have been for the last quarter of a century.

"If I might say so with great respect to our prime minister, I was a Blairite before (Prime Minister Tony) Blair was ever heard of," Reid said. "People like ... myself and others have been modernizers for 20 years. That applies equally to the public services."

Blair last month won a key vote in Parliament for his plan to let Britain's best hospitals manage themselves, hire staff and borrow money without interference from government bureaucrats, although dozens of members of his Labor Party voted against the move.

Many left-wing members of the party fear the change will create a two-tier health care system out of a state-funded service that serves all Britons for free. Some fear the reorganization could be a step toward eventual privatization of the National Health Service (NHS).

But Reid said the changes would improve the creaking NHS.

"Those of us who support the NHS ... want to make sure that it is a health service that gives the choice, the diversity, and evokes the support from today's spectrum of working people that the health service did when it came in 40, 50 years ago,'' he told the BBC.
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