The former health secretary has accused the coalition Government of taking a “reckless gamble” with its plans to reform the NHS.
Andy Burnham made the announcement as he launched a “defend our NHS” campaign, designed to highlight Labour’s opposition to changes it says will cause “the end of the NHS as we have known it”.
The reform White Paper launched by Health Secretary Andrew Lansley, promises to scrap unjustified targets, give patients more choice and cut bureaucratic control.
GPs will be given more power while strategic health authorities and primary care Trusts (PCTs) will be phased out.
But Mr Burnham said spending billions on the reorganisation was “unnecessary and dangerous” and would be better put towards essential care. He said care was already being cut back despite Government assurances that frontline health services would be protected.
“It is an ideological experiment which threatens to unpick the very fabric of our precious NHS” he said.
“It is a recipe for a postcode lottery writ large and signals the end of the NHS as we have known it”.
“The chaos is starting now and I urge people to act now to defend our NHS. Right now, the NHS needs to focus solely on meeting the financial challenge. This unnecessary re-organisation will distract attention, reduce motivation and scandalously, cost up to 3 billion – money that could have been spent on patient care”.
Mr Burnham said PCTs around the country were being asked to shed 50% or more staff before the new structures are in place. In Liverpool, all 3,000 PCT staff have been offered voluntary redundancy and 300 jobs are to go at Aintree Hospital.
At Mid-Yorkshire Hospital Trust 500 staff are to go and in Hertfordshire 50 common procedures, including hip and knee replacements, are being rationed by the PCT to save money, he said.