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Nadine Dorries’ monthly column: Sorry, but there’s no conspiracy and no secrecy for the sake of secrecy
Nadine Dorries
THERE are certain words in Britain that are bound to arouse public interest and are often liberally doused over headlines or campaigns to add a touch of spice.
One such word is ‘secret’, which has been playing a starring role in many emails my office has received this week about the NHS risk register.
Before the Health And Social Care Bill was committed to Parliament, and while changes have been made to it on its journey through both Houses, comprehensive analysis has been conducted on the benefits the bill will bring and, crucially, on the risks it contains for the NHS.
Constituents across Mid Bedfordshire, campaigners all over the country, and the Parliamentary Labour Party, have all been clamouring this week for this information to be released and made freely available. There is an inherent public interest in this information and it must not be kept ‘secret’.
Unfortunately for the wider eyed members of society, the government agrees with this position and always has done. The information has been and remains freely available on the Department Of Health website, and my office has been sending out links to it to anyone who is interested.
I am quite fond of the modern trend for ‘click button campaigning’. However, the debacle over the risk register has revealed a flaw in the way this kind of campaign allows incorrect assumptions to spread.
Despite the wilder fantasies of conspiracy theorists, no-one in government is committed to secrecy for the sake of it. There is an NHS risk register and it won’t be released, but for reasons that are entirely understandable – the NHS uses a wide variety of commercial suppliers and letting some information into the public domain would seriously damage the NHS in achieving value for money.
To be clear and to remove any element of doubt I will state the following. I am totally committed to ensuring that high standards of universal healthcare are maintained in Mid Bedfordshire and across the country. As such, I will always support an NHS that is free at the point of use and available to all that need it.
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Weather for Biggleswade
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
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Temperature: 12 C to 24 C
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