A01 1 <#FLOB:A01\>Labour pledges reversal of NHS hospital A01 2 opt-outs

A01 3 By Stephen Castle

A01 4 Political Correspondent

A01 5 ROBIN COOK, Labour's health spokesman, yesterday repeated party A01 6 opposition to the internal market in the National Health Service A01 7 and said there had been "no secret pacts with health A01 8 service <}_><-|>manager<+|>managers<}/>" to maintain A01 9 hospital trusts.

A01 10 Speaking to prospective Labour parliamentary candidates in A01 11 London, Mr Cook said his party "will bring back into the A01 12 local NHS all those hospitals that have opted out". "If A01 13 there is an election in November and we win office we will stop any A01 14 hospital in the pipeline."

A01 15 He and his colleagues are concerned that managers have told A01 16 some NGS staff that a Labour government would accept trust status A01 17 as a fait accompli. However, Mr Cook said Tory A01 18 plans for an internal market demonstrated the division between the A01 19 values of the two parties.

A01 20 Using the United States as an example, he argued that markets A01 21 in health care are flawed because they stimulate demand and A01 22 encourage unnecessary treatment, and because they focus attention A01 23 on costs of episodes of health care. Resources are also being A01 24 concentrated on those with higher "purchasing A01 25 power".