Among the areas of the Bill Ms Qureshi says she supports was restoring accountability to the Secretary of State for the delivery of health services and the requirement that a comprehensive health service continues to be provided free of charge at the point of need.

Ms Qureshi said: “I also believe that the encroaching privatisation of the NHS must be halted and that decisions about NHS services should never be called into question by any international treaties or agreements, such as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).”

There is concern that some parts of the Bill would require another wholesale reorganisation of the health service, citing the top-down reorganisation of the NHS brought about by the Coalition Government’s Health and Social Care Act 2012, which it is claimed cost over £3bn and “eroding staff morale”.

Ms Qureshi says that whilst she supports the broad objectives which lie behind this Bill, she is concerned about the scale of structural change and costs associated with any further major reorganisation of the NHS.

UPDATE: The Bill failed to pass Second Reading on Friday 11 March 2016.

Ms Qureshi said: 

“If the Bill were to have proceeded, the Opposition would have sought to amend it to avoid the problems of a further reorganisation.    

“I am committed to repealing the competition elements of the Health and Social Care Act 2012, and ensuring that patient care is always put before profits, and collaboration before competition.”