David Cameron quashes speculation over Andrew Lansley's future David Cameron today sought to quash speculation over the survival of Health Secretary Andrew Lansley and his controversial NHS shake-up. The Prime Minister insisted that he was "at one" with Mr Lansley and the legislation going through parliament. He also attacked Labour for "opportunism" on the issue - claiming the proposals were an "evolution" from changes introduced by the previous government. The intervention comes amid growing pressure for the Health and Social Care Bill to be scrapped. Several Conservative Cabinet ministers are said to have privately condemned Mr Lansley's handling of the package, with one suggesting the problems were now on the scale of the Poll Tax in the 1980s. A Downing Street source was also quoted last week saying that the Health Secretary should be "taken out and shot." However, writing in The Sunday Times, Mr Cameron stressed that there was no alternative to reform. The Prime Minister - whose disabled son Ivan died in 2009 - said: "As a parent, night after night, I've known what it is to have the NHS by your side. I've seen the dedication - the reassurance that if the worst happens, the NHS will be there for your family. That's why I so strongly support the founding principle of the NHS: health care for all, free at the point of use, unrelated to the ability to pay. That won't change. But while the values are right, the system isn't. It needs to change - and that is why I am at one with Andrew Lansley, the reform programme and the legislation going through Parliament. The shortcomings of the status quo are well known. There's too much bureaucracy - and too much decision-making is led by that bureaucracy rather than clinicians. Mr Cameron said the Government was providing an extra £12.5 billion in this parliament to eradicate health inequalities and cope with cost pressures. "But modest spending increases without reform will not work," he went on. The failings of the current set-up are too profound and the future pressures are too great. But I want to reassure people that the change we propose is evolutionary, not revolutionary. Because while Labour wasted money on bureaucracy and vanity projects like the NHS Super Computer, and while top-down targets distorted some clinical priorities, there was the start of sensible reform. Payment by results began, patients got limited rights to choose a hospital, and competition was expanded. We need to build on this - and that is what the Bill does. Mr Cameron insisted the Bill gave "power to doctors and nurses," and would lead to "more choice for patients and competition for treatment." The "staggering" £4.5 billion savings would be ploughed back into patient care, he added. "Choice, competition and transparency may unsettle some people," he wrote. But it's these things at the heart of our reform that will lead to the better NHS I care about and our country deserves. The Government has already "paused" the Health and Social Care Bill and accepted dozens of amendments since it was first introduced. But the concessions have failed to quell protests from professional bodies such as the British Medical Association and the Royal College of Nursing. The legislation has already suffered one defeat since reaching the Lords and there are fears the process could drag on into next month. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg could come under intense pressure from Liberal Democrat activists if the process is still ongoing when the party holds its spring conference. However, Mr Lansley has brushed off suggestions that it is time he resigned in order to salvage the reforms. No, it is not. Because actually we as a government have committed to supporting the NHS," he told reporters. This legislation has been supported by the House of Commons, by the House of Lords. He added: "It is not about the Bill as such, it is about what the Bill enables the NHS to achieve in the future. That is not about me, that is about us as a government.