THE Health Secretary has come under fire for not having the “guts” to speak to thousands of nurses in Liverpool.
Andrew Lansley MP was criticised last night for declining an offer to speak at the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) congress at the BT Convention Centre, next to the Echo Arena.
Instead, Mr Lansley decided to hold a 45-minute Q&A with just 50 nurses today as part of the Government’s “listening exercise” on NHS controversial reforms.
But angry nurses demanded to know why he will not deliver a speech during his visit, as he did last year.
Health minister Anne Milton, his junior and a former nurse, delivered a speech to the conference yesterday.
Julian Newell, an A&E nurse from Sheffield, said: “I think it’s a shame Andrew Lansley does not have the guts to come and face congress as a whole.”
