Labour 'bonfire of patient safety' rips up key NHS safeguards and removes protections for whistleblowers, Lib Dems warn

By SHAUN WOOLLER, EXECUTIVE HEALTH EDITOR Published: 19:29, 10 August 2026 | Updated: 19:30, 10 August 2026 Labour has been accused of setting a 'bonfire of patient safety' with a new Health Bill that rips up key safeguards and removes protections for whistleblowers. Ministers have made a ‘catastrophic misjudgement’ that risks another scandal on the scale of Mid Staffs unless Andy Burnham intervenes to stop the changes, the Liberal Democrats warn. The Bill will remove the duty for the NHS to cooperate with the Care Quality Commission, will remove automatic ‘safe space’ protections for whistleblowers and result in the closure of local Healthwatch organisations, which provide independent advocacy for patients and uncover failings. The Liberal Democrats have tabled amendments to the Health Bill that would cancel these changes and are urging the new Burnham administration to adopt them. They have vowed to robustly fight the Government in the House of Lords, where Labour does not have a majority. It comes after figures revealed the NHS in England recorded 403 ‘never events’ in 2025/26 - serious, largely preventable patient safety incidents that should not occur if appropriate safeguards are in place. Many patient protections currently at risk, including Healthwatch and key whistleblower safeguards, were established following the major NHS hospital scandals in Mid Staffordshire, Morecambe Bay, and Basildon and Thurrock that took place during Andy Burnham’s tenure as Health Secretary and before that a Minister of Health. Wes Streeting, the then health secretary, announced in June last year that hundreds of NHS quangos employing 7,000 staff would be axed or merged under plans to cut wasteful spending and bureaucracy. Liberal Democrats want prime minister Andy Burnham (pictured) to intervene to stop the proposed changes. It was championed as a way to simplify regulation and reduce the ‘overwhelming’ number of recommendations they issue. Oversight by the healthcare regulator, the CQC, is under threat as the changes would remove the NHS’ ‘duty to cooperate’. The CQC has warned this will restrict its access to safety-critical information, such as patient safety incident reports. NHS whistleblowers could lose key legal protections under the planned Bill. Currently, staff who raise safety concerns with the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) are guaranteed anonymity. But HSSIB is losing its independence, meaning cases will move to the Care Quality Commission, which offers no such guarantee. The shift comes as the National Guardian's Office, which oversees whistleblowing support, is closed down and its role passed to NHS England, which has been accused of downplaying internal reports on poor care. Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Helen Morgan said: ‘Decades of tragic NHS scandals - from Mid Staffs to Morecambe Bay to Shrewsbury and Telford - prove our health service needs accountability at the heart of its DNA. Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Helen Morgan (pictured) described the bill as a catastrophic step backwards. ‘Yet Labour’s Health Bill guts hard-won safety measures and lets the NHS mark its own homework. ‘This is a catastrophic step backwards. ‘Many of the protections and organisations being abolished or neutered came in following the scandals that erupted during Andy Burnham’s tenure as Health Secretary. ‘He promised lasting change and to listen, but is now overseeing the greatest backward step in patient safety in a generation. ‘Andy Burnham must urgently put an end to this, and fix the Health Bill so that modernising the NHS doesn’t come at the expense of accountability, transparency or patient safety.' A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said the NHS Modernisation Bill 'explicitly preserves safe space provisions' and 'staff will continue to be protected' but critics have questioned how this will be possible in the way proposed. The spokesperson added: 'The reforms we are introducing will give patients a stronger, clearer voice at the heart of health and social care. 'By bringing the voice of patients closer to the people making decisions, we will ensure a more direct impact on services.'