My honourable friend the Minister of State for Health Services, Department of Health (Ben Bradshaw) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

We are today laying before Parliament the Government’s response (Cm 7558) to the Health Select Committee report NHS Next-stage Review, which was published on 13 January.

High Quality Care for All, the final report of the NHS next-stage review published in June 2008, set out a vision of an NHS that gives patients and the public more information and choice, works in partnership and has quality of care at its heart.

High Quality Care for All set out the national framework that will enable and support the delivery of the ambitious visions for local health and healthcare published by strategic health authorities in May and June 2008. It is these visions, based on the work of local clinicians and unprecedented engagement with patients, staff and the public, that are at the heart of the NHS next-stage review.

The committee’s report concluded that there was much to commend in the review, welcoming in particular the open and consultative way in which it had been conducted and its emphasis on quality and leadership within the NHS.

The committee was concerned that weaknesses in primary care trust (PCT) commissioning meant that its implementation might be slower and more uneven than hoped. While welcoming the provision of additional primary care services that the next-stage review commits to, the committee emphasised that this needs careful management and evaluation of its impact locally.

The government response welcomes the committee’s report and sets out the measures that the Government have taken to improve PCT commissioning through the ambitious world-class commissioning programme. It sets out the Government’s commitment to growing and strengthening primary care and explains that delivery of the additional services the review commits to is a response to patient demand. Their delivery will be locally led and evidence-based.

Today’s publication is in the Library and copies are available to honourable Members from the Vote Office.