Patricia Hewitt - Secretary of State For Health

Secretary of State For Health

She was appointed Secretary of State for Health following the 2005 General Election. She was tipped for Work and Pensions department before this. She had a turbulent two years in office, during which several difficult issues arose, such as the controversy over the Medical Training Application Service computer system. However, she also achieved several things during her time in office, including persuading MPs to vote for a complete smoking ban in public places in England. On 27 June 2007 it was announced that Hewitt would not be Health Secretary in Gordon Brown's new cabinet, an announcement which had been widely expected.

As Health Secretary, Hewitt lobbied hard for a complete ban on smoking in public places, which came into force on 1 July 2007. Her predecessor, John Reid had been in favour of limiting the Government's proposed smoking ban as much as possible, and Labour's 2005 election manifesto had included only a limited pledge, proposing to only ban smoking in places where food was served. Even though he had been moved to Secretary of State for Defence, Reid was the main opponent of her proposals, and a leading figure in the decision of the Cabinet to grant an exemption for private clubs and pubs that did not serve food. However, the exemption in the Cabinet proposals did not find favour with MPs and the Government gave them a free vote on the issue. Hewitt voted with the rebels to defeat the Cabinet's partial ban, which was replaced by the outright ban which she had always wanted. Sir Liam Donaldson described the ban as "a momentous move which would prevent the deaths of both smokers and non-smokers." In June 2010, it was announced that there had been a 2.4% decrease in heart attack admissions in the year following the ban.

She also called for a tax increase on alcopops, although none ultimately took place.

In April 2006, Hewitt made a speech in which she said the NHS had had "its best year ever", citing a decrease in waiting times for hospital treatment. However, this claim came at a time when thousands of jobs were being cut across the country as a number of NHS trusts attempted to cope with budget deficits. This comment did not go down well, and at the Royal College of Nursing 2006 Congress in Bournemouth, Hewitt was heckled and booed by health workers. Delegates at the conference called for job cuts and bed closures, part of planned NHS reforms aimed at improving the effectiveness of the service, to be halted, predicting that the number of posts lost could reach 13,000, and said a work to rule was possible. BMA chairman Mr. James Johnson claimed 2006 was actually one of the worst years on record and that "2006 has been full of bleak moments for the NHS - job losses, training budgets slashed, trusts delaying operations in order to save money and hospital closures announced at the same time as new PFI developments. Added to this the government’s fixation with introducing the private sector into primary care which risks destabilising the well-respected UK system of general practice."

In January 2007, Hewitt criticised the pay of general practitioners (GPs) which had increased to an average of £106,000 per annum as a result of the contract the government implemented in 2004. Her department claimed that GPs had unfairly taken money out of their practices, when the new contract was actually intended to increase investment in practices, although statements from Lord Warner in 2004 appear to contradict this claim. He said that "The better services GPs provide, the more pay they will receive, as rewards will be directly linked with patients' experiences."

On 17 March 2007 over 12,000 doctors went to London to take part in a march objecting to the 'Medical Training Application Service' (MTAS), a job application system for junior doctors, which was subsequently subject to an investigation by the Department of Health, and 'Modernising Medical Careers' for revealing the personal data of applicants. The Conservative Leader of the Opposition David Cameron joined the march and gave a speech.

On 23 May 2007 Hewitt survived a vote of no confidence in the House of Commons led by the Conservatives, winning by 63 votes. A number of her cabinet colleagues joined her on the front bench to express solidarity. Despite this, pressure continued to mount on her to resign as Health Secretary.

On 3 April 2007 Hewitt apologised on BBC Radio 4's Today programme saying that the application scheme had caused terrible anxiety for junior doctors. The change offered by the government to the scheme was not accepted by the BMA however, and she was accused of failing to express genuine regret by Andrew Lansley, the Conservative Shadow Minister for Health. Hewitt also made another apology on 1 May 2007 in the House of Commons after the suspension of the MTAS website due to security breaches which she called "utterly deplorable".

Front line health workers also lobbied against Hewitt, sending her petitions opposing cuts to the NHS and privatization plans which the Department of Health wished to follow up. Allegedly one letter of complaint even suggested she was out to intentionally dismantle the countries NHS system. A survey from October 2006 showed only 37% of workers from the Department of Health were confident in the leadership provided by Hewitt, compared to 57% across Whitehall.

Despite the criticism, Hewitt managed to balance the books of the NHS, which had previously been in huge debt. After having vowed to resign should the NHS complete another year with debts, Hewitt ensured that the Health Service ended 2006/2007 with a £510 million surplus. However to do this she was forced to cut 17,000 jobs, cut public health spending, although that was previously at a high level, and reduce study budgets for NHS staff. By June 2007, whilst the overall budget was balanced, one in five NHS hospital trusts were still in debt.