Johnson outlines plans for NHS

Health Secretary Alan Johnson has unveiled measures aimed at improving security for NHS staff and tackling hospital superbugs.

In a wide-ranging speech at the Labour conference, Mr Johnson explained why the NHS "encapsulates" the party's values.

He said the NHS had emerged from a sense of national solidarity and is a testament to what can be achieved "when radical thinking is combined with political courage".

Speaking about Sir Ara Darzi's review of the NHS, due to report in a few weeks, Mr Johnson said there was an "unprecedented opportunity" to shape a service which is "clinically-led and locally-driven".

Mr Johnson also announced measures to protect staff working alone and in vulnerable situations.

A regulator, which will incorporate the Healthcare Commission, will have greater powers to crack down on hospitals failing to cut rates of MRSA or Clostridium difficile.

Mr Johnson has defended the plan to "deep clean" hospitals ward-by-ward to tackle hospital infections.

Critics have argued that hospitals need a programme to screen patients for MRSA when they enter a ward.

Roy Lilley, a former NHS trust chairman, said he believes the "deep cleaning" idea is "irritatingly populist".

He said: "You can clean a hospital on Monday and on Wednesday you'll be back where you started."

But Prime Minister Gordon Brown has outlined the move as a pre-emptive strike rather than waiting for outbreaks to happen.

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