Lords demand release of NHS reforms report

Peers today demanded that Andrew Lansley hand over a secret report on the risks of his NHS reforms within 48 hours.

Baroness Thornton, Labour's health spokeswoman in the Lords, called for the strategic risk register to be released.

In two separate judgments, the Information Commissioner ruled in favour of the Evening Standard and Labour's former health spokesman John Healey that the Department of Health was wrong, and in breach of freedom of information laws, to keep the document under wraps.

Commissioner Christopher Graham found there was a strong public interest in favour of publication. Health campaigners are also piling pressure on Mr Lansley to release the report which is expected to lay out the risks to patients, finances and the NHS itself from reforms.

Peers are debating at committee stage the Health and Social Care Bill which will hand GPs sweeping new powers over the £60 billion budget to commission health services.

Mr Healey said: "The scale of public concern about the Government's big NHS changes demands the immediate release in full of the assessment of risks. There should be no more debate on the Bill until the full information about the risks is made public."

A revolt by Liberal Democrats and doctors has already forced Mr Lansley to make a series of concessions.

In his ruling, Mr Graham said: "Disclosure would significantly aid public understanding of risks related to the proposed reforms and it would also inform participation in the debate about the reforms."

The health department is understood to have been following a Whitehall-wide policy not to release risk registers in response to FOI requests. A spokesman said: "We are considering the decision notice from the Information Commissioner."