Letter: Healthy options

Sir: Professor C. J. Dickinson (Letters, 14 December) suggests that Labour is not consulting widely enough in the development of our health policy. He is mistaken.

In the New Year, we shall publish our new consultation document on health policy. It will be part of a genuine consultation process, offering people within the NHS and patients who rely on its facilities every opportunity over the subsequent 12 months to present their views on how to develop the NHS for the 21st century.

Professor Dickinson is right to highlight the degree to which the Conservatives have failed to consult and the problems which have resulted. We will not make the same mistakes. Our consultation document will be complemented by seminars and regional meetings, offering every chance for greater input into our policy development.

Yours sincerely,

DAVID BLUNKETT

MP for Sheffield Brightside

(Lab)

House of Commons

London, SW1