The government adviser on clinical commissioning for the new look NHS has hit back at the professional bodies lining up in a last ditch attempt to derail the proposed healthcare legislation for England ahead of its scheduled passage through the House of Lords.

Speaking at a GovNet conference on long term conditions in London on 1 February, James Kingsland, national clinical lead of the NHS Commissioning Community and current president of the National Association of Primary Care suggested that opponents were too caught up in the detail to see the bigger picture.

“We have got a huge opportunity, which seems to have got stagnated in all sorts of debates around the reforms, not least the ever growing opposition from some …