NHS Reform Bill passes Parliament

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LONDON, March 21 (UPI) -- A much debated and amended bill aimed at cutting administrative costs for Britain's National Health Service received final legislative approval Tuesday.

The House of Commons gave the measure an 88-vote majority despite a last-ditch move by Labor members to delay it, The Guardian reported. Queen Elizabeth II must now give the Royal Assent, a formality.

The bill gives more control over spending to primary care physicians, reduces the number of health agencies and attempts to introduce more competition into the system. During its contentious 14-month passage through Parliament, it was amended more than 1,000 times in both the Commons and the House of Lords.

Mike Farrar, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said implementing the bill will be "one of the toughest projects the NHS has ever taken on."

"We have to find our way through the considerable confusion and complexity that has been handed to us as we build and stress-test the new NHS system," he said. "We need to heal the rifts that have opened as many of our clinical staff have debated the merits of the bill. We need to completely redesign NHS services against a backdrop of unprecedented financial pressure, bringing the public and staff with us. We have to do all this with significantly reduced management capacity."

Some of the provisions in the bill have been implemented while the measure was being debated, the Financial Times said.