NHS news ** UPDATED ** Missed many news links in the original posting
Of note:
Ed Miliband, leader of the UK Labour Party performs well yesterday against Prime Minister David Cameron at Prime Minister’s Question Time on the destruction of the NHS issue.
David Cameron accuses Ed Miliband of publishing (reading actually) a union press release. There’s a strange ring about that. The BMA is hardly a union – more of a professional body.
A few recent news articles concerning the UK’s Conservative and Liberal-Democrat coalition government – the ConDem’s – brutal attack on the National Health Service.
UPDATED Missed many news links in the original posting
Just as yesterday the British Medical Society urged Andrew Lansley to scrap ‘top-down reforms’ of the NHS, today we see the government’s champions hit the airwaves.
Radio 2’s Jeremy Vine show this lunchtime featured two such champions, one introduced as a GP, the other a ‘health expert’. The former, Dr Paul Charlson, is indeed a GP in favour of Lansley’s reforms. He also runs a private centre which specialises in cosmetic anti aging treatments (Botox), not typical of most GPs.
Charlson is also spokesperson for a lobby group called Doctors for Reform, which is supported by the free-market think tank, Reform. Funding for Reform has come from the UK’s largest private hospital group, General Healthcare Group and other private health companies set to benefit from Lansley’s reforms.
Vine’s ‘health expert’ was Dr Helen Evans, director of Nurses for Reform. Its funding is more opaque, but it does have ties to many free-market think tanks that favour privatisation. These include the Adam Smith Institute and the Centre for Policy Studies, a think tank that promotes “the opening up [of] state monopolies” in health.
Evans has labelled the NHS “a Stalinist, nationalised abhorrence”.
As the criticism of the NHS reforms gets louder, expect to hear more from these two.
BBC News – Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust cuts 125 jobs
Up to 125 jobs are set to be cut at Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust, managers have revealed.
The trust said the measure was needed to save £8.5m in the next financial year – 5% of its budget – and avert “more radical proposals”.
Other cost-cutting measures include a recruitment freeze and reviewing the trust’s structure and roles.
Managers have blamed government-imposed cuts, a reduction in treatment payments and changes to NHS financing.
NHS ‘privatisation’ bill ‘hangs in the balance’ says Unite [press release]
‘privatisation’ bill hangs in the balance, as opposition continues to mount, Unite, the largest union in the country, said today (Wednesday 16 March).
Unite, which has 100,000 members in the health sector, said that the country faced the biggest battle to save the NHS in its present form since its inception in 1948.
Unite said that health secretary Andrew Lansley and his ministers needed to radically rethink the bill to guarantee that the NHS is the preferred provider of choice – not private healthcare firms, some of which have bankrolled the Conservative party.
Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: ”The government is on the back foot over its Health and Social Care bill, following the opposition voiced by the British Medical Association yesterday and the Liberal Democrats at last weekend’s spring conference.
NHS reforms mean GPs could double their income to £300,000 a year | Society | The Guardian
GPs could more than double their income to £300,000 a year under health secretary Andrew Lansley’s plans for the NHS, according to an analysis for the Guardian – sparking calls from top doctors for the government to reverse controversial policies that would appear to reward physicians who ration care.
The revelation comes after the British Medical Association voted to scrap the “dangerous” health bill and demanded that Lansley rethink his radical pro-market changes to the NHS.
GPs are central to the government’s programme, and by 2013 will have to band together into consortiums before being handed £80bn of NHS funds to commission care for their patients.
It is a serious matter that the British Medical Association has called an emergency meeting – the first of its kind for nearly 20 years – to warn the Government to think again about the pace and scale of its reforms to the National Health Service. The aims of those reforms might be laudable. The Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley, says he wants to set the NHS free from political interference and make it more responsive to patients. And he is right to say that with an ageing population making increasing demands on services, and the cost of drugs and new treatments rising, change is needed.
But he has set in train the biggest reorganisation in the 62-year history of the NHS – at a time when it is being asked to save £20bn from its £100bn budget. And he has done so despite a Tory pledge before the election that there would be no major overhaul of the health service. Doctors’ leaders have rightly complained that the detail on the massive changes were not available at all until the Bill was published two months ago. Mr Lansley’s reforms have been premised on ideological conviction rather than pragmatism; pilot projects should have been trialled first rather than in parallel with the passage of a Bill which is already well on its way through Parliament. No wonder Liberal Democrat delegates rejected the plans at the party’s spring conference last weekend.
NHS reforms: what will happen and why | Society | The Guardian
Why is the government planning a big shakeup of the NHS in England?
The health secretary, Andrew Lansley, says that while the NHS is world-class in some respects, and employs leading medical figures, it is still not good enough in some key areas of care. “For example, rates of mortality amenable to healthcare, rates of mortality for some respiratory diseases and some cancers, and some measures of stroke, have been among the worst in the developed world. International evidence also shows the NHS has much further to go on managing care more effectively,” says the Department of Health. Doctors have cast doubt on the evidence underpinning some of Lansley’s claims about the quality of NHS care, and critics argue that his “modernisation” changes will usher in widespread privatisation of NHS services.
What is the government proposing?
Arguably the most radical restructuring of the NHS since it was created in 1948. England’s 150 or so primary care trusts will be wound up in 2013 and their work, commissioning healthcare, will pass to groups of GPs called general practice commissioning consortiums (GPCCs). Each GPCC, perhaps including scores of existing practices, will have its own budget. The consortiums will have £80bn of NHS funds in all, and agree contracts with hospitals and others. Almost 200 GPCCs have already been set up.
Has Cameron declared war on the BMA? | Left Foot Forward
At Prime Minister’s Questions today, David Cameron complained of “roadblocks” to reform of the NHS, but at first did not refer directly to the British Medical Association; the doctors’ representative body, who called yesterday for the NHS bill to be dumped.
Then, in his answer to Ed Miliband’s final question, he said:
“He should remember the fact that the BMA opposed foundation hospitals, they opposed GP fundholding, they opposed longer opening hours for GPs’ surgeries.
“Isn’t it typical, just as he has to back every other trade union, just as he has no ideas of his own, he comes here and just reads a BMA press release.”
UPDATE follows
BBC News – NHS reforms: David Cameron and Ed Miliband clash
Ed Miliband has accused David Cameron of “threatening the fabric” of the NHS as the two men clashed over the government’s proposed health reforms.
The Labour leader said the government was “wrecking” Labour’s legacy and urged changes to plans to give GPs control over most NHS commissioning.
But Mr Cameron accused Labour of “setting its face” against changes needed to boost patient care.
New Statesman – PMQs review: Cameron rattled by Miliband’s NHS attack
Rarely has David Cameron appeared as rattled as he did at today’s PMQs. Ed Miliband’s decision to lead on the coalition’s troubled NHS reforms proved fortuitous as the Prime Minister struggled to offer a coherent defence of his Health Bill.
Asked if he was planning any further amendments, Cameron prattled on about “cutting bureaucracy” and disingenuously claimed that the coalition would prevent “cherry-picking” by the private sector. As is frequently the case, his disregard for detail let him down. Asked if it was true that the NHS would be subject to EU competition law for the first time in its history, the PM appeared either unwilling or unable to answer Miliband’s question.
Instead, for the third time in recent months, he selectively quoted from a speech by John Healey in which the shadow health secretary declared that “no one in the House of Commons knows more about the NHS than Andrew Lansley . . . these plans are consistent, coherent and comprehensive. I would expect nothing less from Andrew Lansley.”
What Cameron failed to acknowledge is that Healey went on to argue:
They [the Conservatives] believe that competition drives innovation, that price competition brings better value, that profit motivates performance, and that the private sector is better than the public sector. I acknowledge the ambition but I condemn this as the core philosophy being forced into the heart of the NHS. It’s wrong for patients. It’s wrong for our NHS. It’s wrong for Britain.
BBC – Democracy Live – PMQs: Cameron accused of ignoring BMA over NHS reforms
Labour has accused the government of “arrogance” for pushing ahead with NHS reforms despite recent criticism from the British Medical Association (BMA) and the Liberal Democrat spring conference.
At prime minister’s questions on 16 March 2011, opposition leader Ed Miliband asked whether the PM would amend the plans in response to the demands of Lib Dem delegates calling for a halt to the “damaging and unjustified” shake-up of GP services in England.
Meanwhile the BMA described measures that would increase competition in the NHS as “dangerous and risky”.
Mr Miliband accused Prime Minister David Cameron of “ignoring people who know something about the health service” and creating “a free-market free-for-all”.
NHS reforms will see ‘shut’ signs on hospitals, patients warned | Society | The Guardian
Hospitals will shut, others will lose their accident and emergency or maternity units, and some will be downgraded to glorified health centres because of the government’s NHS shakeup, the head of England’s leading hospitals has warned.
Sue Slipman, chief executive of the Foundation Trust Network, told the Guardian that handing GPs control of £80bn of NHS funds, letting private healthcare firms provide treatment and giving patients more choice about where they are treated – key policies promoted by the health secretary, Andrew Lansley – would increase existing pressures on hospitals so much that some will not survive.
“There will be some ‘shut’ signs; I suspect there will be some closures. There will be fewer A&E departments and in urban centres there may well be fewer maternity units,” said Slipman, who predicted unprecedented changes to hospitals over the next few years.
Hospitals will shut, others will lose their accident and emergency or maternity units, and some will be downgraded to glorified health centres because of the government’s NHS shakeup, the head of England’s leading hospitals has warned.
Sue Slipman, chief executive of the Foundation Trust Network, told the Guardian that handing GPs control of £80bn of NHS funds, letting private healthcare firms provide treatment and giving patients more choice about where they are treated – key policies promoted by the health secretary, Andrew Lansley – would increase existing pressures on hospitals so much that some will not survive.
“There will be some ‘shut’ signs; I suspect there will be some closures. There will be fewer A&E departments and in urban centres there may well be fewer maternity units,” said Slipman, who predicted unprecedented changes to hospitals over the next few years.
Tory MPs accused of false election promises over NHS | Politics | The Guardian
The general election battle was in full swing last April in the marginal seat of Bury North when shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley paid a visit to help the Conservative candidate, David Nuttall. Understandably he offered his opinions on a huge local issue: the plan to close the children’s department, including a maternity unit and special care baby unit for ill newborns, at Fairfield general hospital, the town’s much-loved hospital.
As Nuttall’s blog entry for that day records: “Andrew Lansley has reviewed the latest figures for the number of births across Greater Manchester and today said: ‘If I am secretary of state for health after the election, maternity and children’s services will be maintained at Fairfield and I will ensure this happens. In the long term there will be no change without the consent of GPs … who will in our reforms be responsible for commissioning local services’.”
Under the headline “Conservatives will maintain children’s services at Fairfield”, Nuttall added: “The choice for voters in Bury North is clear: vote Labour and these services will be axed from Fairfield. Vote Conservative and if there is a Conservative government the maternity department will be kept open.”
BBC News – Social care ‘facing funding gap of over £1bn’
Social care is facing a funding gap of more than £1bn by 2014 in England – a situation which would have consequences for the NHS, a leading think-tank says.
The King’s Fund analysis predicted councils would struggle to protect home help and care home places as they come to terms with funding cuts.
The report said if this happened there could be more admissions to hospital and longer delays in discharging.
But the government said it did not believe there would be a funding gap.
NHS reforms Q&A: why are hospital services being shut? | Society | The Guardian
Why are hospital services being shut?
Too many hospitals in the wrong places. As towns become cities and population shifts and ages, ministers must reconfigure hospitals and consider closing wards and departments; Labour began doing so.
Why is all this now a problem for Andrew Lansley?
Once Tory leader, David Cameron promised a “bare-knuckle fight” over ward closures. In the election, both sides made extraordinary promises. In a tour of northern constituencies, Lansley pledged to reopen closed hospital wards and A&E departments.
What happened once Lansley took office?
Lansley announced in May 2010 an end to “top-down forced closures”. Instead, health trusts would have to pass several tests to make a closure: support from GP commissioners, better public and patient engagement, and clear clinical evidence to justify the change. But of three dozen closure proposals, only one, Chase Farm in north London, has seen him intervene, merely to delay the decision a month. Lansley has not reopened any services closed under Labour.
BBC News – Unison slams Surrey and Sussex NHS over parking charges
A move to charge hospital staff for parking will cause NHS workers financial hardship, a union has said.
Unison has described the plans by Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust as a “hammer blow” to its members.
But a statement issued by the trust said the plans would help to cut congestion and encourage “greener” ways of travelling, such as car sharing.
27/11/13 Having received a takedown notice from the Independent newspaper for a different posting, I have reviewed this article which links to an article at the Independent’s website in order to attempt to ensure conformance with copyright laws.
I consider this posting to comply with copyright laws since
a. Only a small portion of the original article has been quoted satisfying the fair use criteria, and / or
b. This posting satisfies the requirements of a derivative work.
Please be assured that this blog is a non-commercial blog (weblog) which does not feature advertising and has not ever produced any income.
dizzy
NHS news
Comments by dizzy dissident: Of special note is
- Yesterday’s vote by the BMA to call on Health Secretary Andrew Lansley to withdraw the abolition of the NHS bill.
- Andrew Lansley’s response needs to be fact-checked e.g. that the BMA previously supported parts of the bill.
- The Labour Party has belatedly joined the campaign to oppose the abolition of the NHS. Belatedly because they appear to have joined the campaign once it was assured widespread support – after both the Liberal Democrats and the BMA have declared that they oppose the decimation of the NHS.
- The Labour Party response – a petition – is pathetically inadequate.
- It is interesting that Liberal Democrat MPs are mandated to vote with Labour MPs to oppose the bill.
A few recent news articles concerning the UK’s Conservative and Liberal-Democrat coalition government – the ConDem’s – brutal attack on the National Health Service.
Labour to challenge ‘full blown market’ in NHS reforms | GP online
At a committee stage meeting on the reforms on Tuesday, the shadow health team was set to demand the removal of the whole middle third of the Bill, which opens up commissioning to ‘any willing provider’.
This section will grant the regulator Monitor powers to fine commissioning groups up to 10% of their turnover for anti-competitive practice, Labour claims. The powers would be in line with those currently exercised by the Office of Fair Trading.
Speaking at a press briefing before the committee meeting, Shadow health minister John Healey said the Health and Social Care Bill will expose the NHS to full force of competition law.
BMA rejects NHS reforms | Society | guardian.co.uk
Doctors have voted to call on the government to scrap its plans for overhauling the NHS.
The health secretary, Andrew Lansley, is coming under increasing pressure over his reforms, which involve the abolition of more than 150 organisations and moving 80% of the NHS budget into the hands of GPs.
Some doctors support the content of the health and social care bill, currently going through parliament, but many have been voicing opposition to parts of it, including increasing the role of private companies in delivering healthcare.
Today the British Medical Association (BMA) held an emergency meeting attended by almost 400 doctors to debate the plans.
Doctors voted in favour of calling on Lansley to withdraw the bill entirely and for a “halt to the proposed top-down reorganisation of the NHS”.
Pressure growing over NHS reforms – Health News, Health & Families – The Independent
The Government is coming under increasing pressure over its NHS reforms after doctors voted for the plans to be dropped.
Delegates at an emergency meeting said Health Secretary Andrew Lansley should withdraw the Health and Social Care Bill, and “halt the proposed top-down reorganisation of the NHS”.
Some doctors support the Bill, currently going through parliament, which would see more than 150 organisations abolished and 80% of the NHS budget pass into the hands of GPs.
But many have been voicing their opposition, including to increasing the role of private companies in delivering healthcare.
The emergency meeting of the British Medical Association (BMA) comes as Labour tabled amendments to the Bill, saying there was a need to protect the NHS against the introduction of a full-blown competitive market.
220,000 jobs threatened, says union (From Your Local Guardian)
More than 220,000 jobs are under threat in councils, the NHS, education and other parts of the public sector because of the Government’s spending cuts, according to a new study.
The GMB union, which has been tracking job loss announcements in councils for months, said that when other parts of the public sector were included, the toll of job cuts was “shocking”.
Over 170,000 posts were under threat at 318 local authorities in England, Wales and Scotland, but when planned cuts in the NHS, universities and Government departments were included, the total was 226,000, said the union.
Doctor No: BMA rejects NHS plot / Britain / Home – Morning Star
Doctors overwhelmingly followed disaffected Liberal Democrats on Wednesday in condemning government plans to break apart the NHS.
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley is forging enemies left, right and centre over his flagship “reform” plan, as the British Medical Association became the latest to vote against it at an emergency meeting attended by almost 400 doctors.
The deeply unpopular Health and Social Care Bill, currently at the committee stage in Parliament, was also voted against by Lib Dems at their party’s spring conference in Sheffield on the weekend.
Government’s NHS reforms Q&A » Health » 24dash.com
The Government’s reforms of the NHS are coming under attack from health campaigners and unions.
Q: What will the shake-up do?
A: Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has unveiled plans to change the way the NHS works in England, saying they will improve patient care.
Under proposals in the Health and Social Care Bill, GPs will take control of 80% of the NHS budget – some £80 billion a year – and hospitals will be given more freedom from central Government.
The aim is for groups of GPs to be ready to commission services from April 2013.
It is unclear exactly how many of these GP consortia plan to do the work themselves and how many will buy-in outside expertise.
An NHS Commissioning Board will oversee the way services are bought, and primary care trusts and strategic health authorities, which currently hold the purse strings, will be scrapped.
The move is a major overhaul and will lead to more than 150 organisations being abolished and thousands of job losses.
Labour calls on Cameron to keep his NHS promises
Since the General Election, the British public has seen David Cameron break promise after promise on the NHS despite promising that it was a top priority.
Labour’s petition to protect frontline services, launched today, calls on David Cameron to keep his promises to:
* Protect frontline NHS services;
* Stop precious NHS money being wasted on a big top-down reorganisation, which is putting the NHS at risk;
* Provide the real increase he promised in NHS funding.
NHS reforms: will family doctors become accountants? | Society | The Guardian
Among the 50 GPs feted by the prime minister in January at a champagne reception in Downing Street were the leading lights of the National Association of Primary Care, a group of family doctors who many see as the brains behind health secretary Andrew Lansley’s plans.
The physicians sipping bubbly at No 10 were part of the first wave of GP shadow consortiums – doctors tasked with reshaping hospital services in the runup to finally being handed the NHS purse strings. Treading the corridors of power that chilly winter evening was Charles Alessi, an executive member of the NAPC, who two weeks earlier had penned a tabloid comment piece backing the radical pro-market plans of the government.
While the association is careful to say it is not aligned to any party, it did come up with the central plank of the health secretary’s policy: dissolve England’s primary care trusts, which currently commission hospital care on behalf of patients, and instead allow GP practices, essentially private businesses run by doctors, to form consortiums to buy treatments using £80bn of Treasury money. The loss of the primary care trusts will see 24,000 jobs go.
For the first time all England’s 38,000 general practitioners will, under the government’s plans, be directly responsible for access to expensive hospital treatments through referrals. Those family doctors who manage to stay within budget – and perhaps even save the taxpayer money – will get cash bonuses.
NHS bill will have only minor changes, insists Andrew Lansley | Society | The Guardian
No 10 responded to the British Medical Association vote on NHS reforms by describing the general meeting as unrepresentative of the BMA membership, adding it was disappointed it had decided to oppose reforms it had previously supported.
Andrew Lansley, the health secretary, has insisted he will only be making minor changes to the language of the health and social care bill in response to the Liberal Democrat decision to oppose it. A discussion is now under way inside the coalition on how to respond, with some influential cabinet figures arguing Lansley has to recast a bill that is losing support daily.
Labour is to stage a debate on health on Wednesday with a motion broadly designed to mirror the Liberal Democrats’ objections to the bill, which were passed in a weekend motion at its conference in Sheffield. Liberal Democrat MPs met on Tuesday to decide how to vote in the Commons debate, but are not expected to vote with Labour.
NHS reforms mean GPs could double their income to £300,000 a year | Society | The Guardian
GPs could more than double their income to £300,000 a year under health secretary Andrew Lansley’s plans for the NHS, according to an analysis for the Guardian – sparking calls from top doctors for the government to reverse controversial policies that would appear to reward physicians who ration care.
The revelation comes after the British Medical Association voted to scrap the “dangerous” health bill and demanded that Lansley rethink his radical pro-market changes to the NHS.
GPs are central to the government’s programme, and by 2013 will have to band together into consortiums before being handed £80bn of NHS funds to commission care for their patients.
At the heart of many doctors’ concerns lies the possibility that, under the reforms, GPs’ pay will be linked to rationing patient care; in essence, being rewarded for saving the taxpayer money. Doctors’ leaders warned that the public would view as “unethical” any move towards a GP’s assessment of a person’s medical need being coloured by a profit motive.
It is a serious matter that the British Medical Association has called an emergency meeting – the first of its kind for nearly 20 years – to warn the Government to think again about the pace and scale of its reforms to the National Health Service. The aims of those reforms might be laudable. The Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley, says he wants to set the NHS free from political interference and make it more responsive to patients. And he is right to say that with an ageing population making increasing demands on services, and the cost of drugs and new treatments rising, change is needed.
But he has set in train the biggest reorganisation in the 62-year history of the NHS – at a time when it is being asked to save £20bn from its £100bn budget. And he has done so despite a Tory pledge before the election that there would be no major overhaul of the health service. Doctors’ leaders have rightly complained that the detail on the massive changes were not available at all until the Bill was published two months ago. Mr Lansley’s reforms have been premised on ideological conviction rather than pragmatism; pilot projects should have been trialled first rather than in parallel with the passage of a Bill which is already well on its way through Parliament. No wonder Liberal Democrat delegates rejected the plans at the party’s spring conference last weekend.
Doctors’ leaders yesterday stopped short of a vote of no confidence in Health Secretary Andrew Lansley but demanded that he halt his plans to reform the NHS and condemned his failure to act on their concerns.
In what is turning out to be a torrid week for the Health Secretary, the British Medical Association (BMA) called on him to withdraw the Health and Social Care Bill, now going through Parliament, and warned that it would lead to the “fragmentation” and “privatisation” of the NHS.
However, the BMA failed to back a vote of no confidence and stopped short of condemning its leadership for pursuing a policy of “critical engagement” with the Government rather than outright opposition to the Bill, after an appeal from the chairman, Hamish Meldrum, not to “tie our hands”.
Pulse – Lib Dems on collision course with ‘market-based’ NHS reforms
The Government’s NHS reforms face their biggest challenge yet, after Liberal Democrats at their party’s spring conference voted to oppose key parts of the health bill.
In a motion passed in Sheffield on Saturday, the party committed to demand new safeguards are written into the bill to limit the role of private firms and effectively return to the previous Government’s policy of the NHS as the ‘preferred provider’.
The motion was an embarrassment to Liberal Democrat health minister Paul Burstow, whose original motion overwhelmingly supported the reforms, and leaves health secretary Andrew Lansley now facing having to re-negotiate the terms of the bill, or see Liberal Democrats vote against them.
NHS reforms: what will happen and why | Society | The Guardian
Why is the government planning a big shakeup of the NHS in England?
The health secretary, Andrew Lansley, says that while the NHS is world-class in some respects, and employs leading medical figures, it is still not good enough in some key areas of care. “For example, rates of mortality amenable to healthcare, rates of mortality for some respiratory diseases and some cancers, and some measures of stroke, have been among the worst in the developed world. International evidence also shows the NHS has much further to go on managing care more effectively,” says the Department of Health. Doctors have cast doubt on the evidence underpinning some of Lansley’s claims about the quality of NHS care, and critics argue that his “modernisation” changes will usher in widespread privatisation of NHS services.
What is the government proposing?
Arguably the most radical restructuring of the NHS since it was created in 1948. England’s 150 or so primary care trusts will be wound up in 2013 and their work, commissioning healthcare, will pass to groups of GPs called general practice commissioning consortiums (GPCCs). Each GPCC, perhaps including scores of existing practices, will have its own budget. The consortiums will have £80bn of NHS funds in all, and agree contracts with hospitals and others. Almost 200 GPCCs have already been set up.
Doctors call for a halt on NHS reform bill | Metro.co.uk
The British Medical Association said health secretary Andrew Lansley should dump his bill and adopt an ‘evolution not revolution’ approach.
While agreeing with some central points, such as clinicians having more of a say in decision making and better information for patients, doctors argued the proposals went too far, too fast.
BMA chairman Dr Hamish Meldrum addressed almost 400 doctors at the meeting in central London, saying reforms could have ‘irreversible consequences’.
He said: ‘But, as on so many occasions, it’s the reality not the rhetoric that counts and it’s the reality that is causing all the problems.
‘Because what we have seen is an often contradictory set of proposals, driven by ideology rather than evidence, enshrined in ill-thought-through legislation and implemented in a rush during a major economic downturn.’
Management in Practice – BMA wary of NHS reform proposals
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley’s plans to reform the NHS have been heavily criticised by doctors, but they stopped short of rejecting the Health and Social Care Bill outright.
Approximately 400 doctors attended an emergency meeting called by the British Medical Association (BMA) in London to debate and vote on the government’s reforms, with 43% in favour of rejecting the Bill completely, with 54% against, and 3% abstaining.
They called on Mr Lansley to “adopt an approach of evolution not revolution regarding any changes to the NHS in England” and that the government must respond to criticisms regarding the Bill and accept ministers had “no electoral mandate” for the plans.
Labour launches petition to protect NHS | GP online
The Labour Party launched a petition to save the NHS on Tuesday as BMA members discussed the Health Bill at an emergency meeting in London.
27/11/13 Having received a takedown notice from the Independent newspaper for a different posting, I have reviewed this article which links to an article at the Independent’s website in order to attempt to ensure conformance with copyright laws.
I consider this posting to comply with copyright laws since
a. Only a small portion of the original article has been quoted satisfying the fair use criteria, and / or
b. This posting satisfies the requirements of a derivative work.
Please be assured that this blog is a non-commercial blog (weblog) which does not feature advertising and has not ever produced any income.
dizzy
NHS news
The notable NHS news in the past hour os so is that the Bristish Medical Association (BMA) has called on the Health Secretary Andrew Lansley to withdraw the bill that destroys the NHS.
The Press Association: Doctors vote against NHS reforms
Doctors have voted in favour of calling on the Government to scrap its plans for overhauling the NHS.
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley is coming under increasing pressure over his reforms, which would see more than 150 organisations abolished and 80% of the NHS budget pass into the hands of GPs.
Some doctors support the content of the Health and Social Care Bill, currently going through Parliament, but many have been voicing opposition to parts of it, including increasing the role of private companies in delivering healthcare.
The British Medical Association (BMA) held an emergency meeting on Tuesday attended by almost 400 doctors to debate the plans.
Doctors voted in favour of calling on Mr Lansley to withdraw the Bill entirely and for a “halt to the proposed top-down reorganisation of the NHS”. They said the Government should accept there was “no electoral mandate” for the plans which were not part of the election manifesto of either the Conservatives or the Liberal Democrats.
A few recent news articles concerning the UK’s Conservative and Liberal-Democrat coalition government – the ConDem’s – brutal attack on the National Health Service.
York doctor warns that lives will be lost if children’s heart unit closes (From York Press)
YORK lives will be put at risk if children’s heart surgery services are moved from Leeds, a top paediatric doctor has warned.
Dr Robin Ball, of York Hospital, said NHS proposals to move the heart surgery to Newcastle would be a “major problem” for the children of York and said it would put stress on hospital transport services.
He said York currently sends about ten extreme emergency cases a year to Leeds General Infirmary (LGI) for surgery as well as referring a “significant number” of the estimated 250 child heart cases which are seen in York each year.
Bucks doctors: ‘Health Secretary Andrew Lansley is ‘unfit’ to run NHS’ (From Bucks Free Press)
DOCTORS in Buckinghamshire are set to deliver a stinging attack on the health secretary Andrew Lansley – saying he has reneged on a pre-election promise and is ‘unfit’ to run the NHS.
The Bucks division of the British Medical Association, the doctors’ trade union, is expected to join other regions in calling for Lansley to resign at a meeting today.
A motion from Bucks doctors set to be debated says Lansley has “reneged on his pre-election promise not to reorganise the NHS management structures”, while “demonstrating his desire to destroy the public’s trust in their GPs”.
NHS Trust to axe 60 jobs with frontline services hit – Health – The Star
MORE than 60 jobs are to be axed by Rotherham health chiefs – with frontline clinical and support services to bear the brunt.
New staff cuts at Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust will come on top of a £1.7 million efficiency drive affecting administrative and back office staff.
Chief executive Brian James said the NHS was facing significant financial challenges with up to £20 billion of cuts being made nationally.
MORE than 60 jobs are to be axed by Rotherham health chiefs – with frontline clinical and support services to bear the brunt.
New staff cuts at Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust will come on top of a £1.7 million efficiency drive affecting administrative and back office staff.
Chief executive Brian James said the NHS was facing significant financial challenges with up to £20 billion of cuts being made nationally.
MORE than 60 jobs are to be axed by Rotherham health chiefs – with frontline clinical and support services to bear the brunt.
New staff cuts at Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust will come on top of a £1.7 million efficiency drive affecting administrative and back office staff.
Chief executive Brian James said the NHS was facing significant financial challenges with up to £20 billion of cuts being made nationally.
News: Government has no plans to perform U turn on health bill proposals – UK Net Guide
The government will not back down on its plans to introduce large-scale reforms to the NHS, Downing Street has maintained.
Members of the Liberal Democrats used the opportunity of their party’s spring conference to express their concerns with the plans laid out by David Cameron, voting against what they believe to be a potentially damaging programme of reforms.
However, despite this emergent split within the ruling coalition, Number 10 has insisted that, while proposals such as axing primary care trusts may ultimately be amended when they are placed before parliament, the government will not be performing a u-turn anytime soon.
A short statement released by Mr Cameron’s official spokesman on the back of the weekend conference said: “There are not about to be significant changes to the policy.”
Andrew Lansley facing no-confidence vote from doctors – Channel 4 News
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley is facing the biggest revolt yet from doctors over his plans to shake up the NHS.
The British Medical Association (BMA) will vote on three separate motions of no confidence in Mr Lansley later.
Doctors are meeting in central London at the BMA’s first special representative meeting in 19 years.
The hastily-arranged summit is a sign of how much anger the Government’s plans to give more power to GPs and introduce more private competition into the NHS have provoked.
BMA chairman hits out at NHS Health Bill | GP online
Opening the BMA special representative meeting in London today, Dr Hamish Meldrum said representatives must use the ‘opportunity wisely’.
He warned that most commentators say it is ‘unlikely’ the government will ‘buckle and withdraw the Bill’.
He said: ‘What we have to decide today is how to move on from here, how we are most likely to achieve change, how we support our colleagues – and yes, how we best defend our NHS.
‘Whatever we do today we must remember that, above all, we are medical professionals. We must search for the best outcomes for our patients as well as the profession, even in the most difficult situations.’
Health Bill: BMA Calls On Andrew Lansley To Withdraw NHS Reform Plans | Politics | Sky News
Mr Lansley was facing a potentially embarrassing day as the British Medical Association (BMA) debates a series of motions that are highly critical of the Government’s health reforms.
It is the first special representative meeting in 19 years – a measure of how angry many doctors are over plans to give more power to GPs and introduce more private competition into the NHS.
The Health and Social Care Bill, currently going through Parliament, would also see more than 150 organisations scrapped.
The BMA delegates voted in favour of calling on Mr Lansley to put a “halt to the proposed top-down reorganisation of the NHS”.
Pulse – BMA calls for health bill to be withdrawn
The BMA is to call on health secretary Andrew Lansley to withdraw the Health and Social Care Bill, after representatives ignored warnings by their leader that it would be impractical.
In the first significant policy move at today’s Special Representative Meeting, a motion was passed calling on the Government to ‘call a halt to the proposed top down reoganisation of the NHS’.
Representives voted overhwelmingly for the legislation to be withdrawn and called on the Government to ‘consider and act on the criticisms and advice from the medical profession.’
The vote, which causede a split between council members and grassroots representatives, showed how divided the BMA is over how it should respond to the health bill, with BMA chair Dr Hamish Meldrum having earlier warned representatives not to ‘tie the hands’ of negotiators.
BMA special representative meeting – chairman’s speech | GP online
Good morning.
Welcome to this SRM – your opportunity, together, to help shape the difficult decisions that the BMA needs to make in the face of potentially the biggest reorganisation the NHS in England has faced in its 63 years.
The decisions you make today will have a profound effect on your profession, your patients and the future shape of our NHS.
The Government’s proposed reforms have far-reaching and potentially irreversible consequences for how the NHS is run and the way we deliver care to our patients.
This is your opportunity to scrutinise the proposals, to consider their impact, and ultimately to decide how best to influence the direction of health policy in England.
NHS news
A few recent news articles concerning the UK’s Conservative and Liberal-Democrat coalition government – the ConDem’s – brutal attack on the National Health Service.
NHS reforms face overhaul after Liberal Democrats’ rebellion | Politics | The Guardian
The government’s plans for a health service shakeup face a radical overhaul after the Liberal Democrat leadership was forced to bow to the strength of a grassroots rebellion fuelled by fear of privatisation and an undue emphasis on competition.
The Lib Dems voted almost unanimously at the party’s spring conference in Sheffield to give councillors a central role in GP commissioning and in scrutinising foundation trusts. They called for a ban on all cherry-picking by private companies offering treatment services.
David Cameron will hold talks this week with his deputy, Nick Clegg, to decide whether the rebellion provides an opportunity to make changes to a health and social care bill that has become increasingly unpopular. Cameron acknowledges the government has not got his message across on health.
Patient voice may be lost in NHS reforms | GP online
Reform backs DoH plans to reorganise the NHS. But it says the proposals neither provide accountability to patients nor dismantle central regulation.
Reorganising the commissioning structure would leave responsibility divided between consortia, local authorities and the NHS Commissioning Board, according to Reform’s report.
‘The Health Bill gives the NHS Commissioning Board significant powers over consortia,’ the report says. ‘But it also gives the secretary of state power to direct the Board not only in what it does but in how it does it. Consequently accountability runs to the centre.’
Anti-cuts campaigners plan ‘carnival of civil disobedience’ | Society | The Guardian
Anti-cuts campaigners are planning a wave of sit-ins, occupations and “people’s assemblies” to coincide with this month’s TUC demonstration, in a “carnival of civil disobedience” designed to highlight opposition to the government’s programme of cuts.
Student activists, tax avoidance campaigners and anti-capitalist groups say they plan to occupy some of the capital’s “great buildings”, close down scores of high street stores and stage a 24-hour occupation of Hyde Park.
“This is going to be a really important day,” said Anna Walker of the campaign group UK Uncut. “We had the student protests and we have seen the growth of UK Uncut, but this is the first time we are going to have people from all over the UK together whose lives are being turned upside down by these cuts. It is going to be the start of something powerful.”
Nick Clegg: We will not privatise NHS – mirror.co.uk
Just hours after Party activists voted against the reforms, the Deputy Prime Minister insisted the Coalition was not trying to privatise the health service.
The plans will let market forces run riot in the NHS and senior Lib Dems fear it will inflict more damage on them than the broken tuition fees promise.
But, speaking at the spring conference yesterday, Mr Clegg said: “What I need you to know is all of us in Government are listening and that we take those concerns seriously.”
David Cameron and Nick Clegg two stupid – mirror.co.uk
DAVID Cameron and Nick Clegg backslap and grin for the cameras but their silly little act fools nobody.
This incompetent coalition is split down the middle over NHS reforms which will leave the sick at the mercy of profit-hungry firms.
The Prime Minister and his deputy deserve to pay a high political price if they dismantle our most cherished institution, the NHS.
Increasingly Mr Clegg’s divorced from his party, and Mr Cameron from the country.
BBC News – NHS plans will not change significantly: Downing Street
Downing Street has ruled out “significant changes” to government NHS reforms following their rejection by Liberal Democrat members.
Delegates at the party’s spring conference voted at the weekend not to support a “damaging and unjustified” shake-up of health services in England.
Plans include axing primary care trusts and strategic health authorities.
No 10 said it would not make large changes to the proposals, but added they could be amended by Parliament.
Spring Conference 2011: Lines 6-15 deleted, Amendments 1 and 2 carried, Main motion carried as amended.
Twelve conference representatives
Mover: Paul Burstow
Summation: Cllr Richard Kemp
Conference believes that the NHS is an integral part of a liberal society, reflecting the social solidarity of shared access to collective healthcare, and a shared responsibility to use resources effectively to deliver better health.
Conference welcomes our Coalition Government’s commitment to the founding principles of the NHS: available to all, free at the point of use, and based on need, not the ability to pay.
Conference welcomes much of the vision for the NHS set out in the Government’s White Paper, Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS which commits the Government to an NHS that:
i) Is genuinely centred on patients and carers.
ii) Achieves quality and outcomes that are among the best in the world.
iii) Refuses to tolerate unsafe and substandard care.
iv) Puts clinicians in the driving seat and sets hospitals and providers free to innovate, with stronger incentives to adopt best practice.
v) Is more transparent, with clearer accountabilities for quality and results.
vi) Is more efficient and dynamic, with a radically smaller national, regional and local bureaucracy.
vii) Gives citizens a greater say in how the NHS is run.
Conference particularly welcomes the proposals to introduce real democratic legitimacy and local accountability into the NHS for the first time in almost forty years by:
a) Extending the powers of local authorities to enable effective scrutiny of any provider of any taxpayer funded health services.
b) Giving local authorities the role of leading on improving the strategic coordination of commissioning across the NHS, social care, and related childrens’ and public health services through councillor led Health and Wellbeing Boards.
c) Creating Health Watch to act as a local consumer champion for patients and to ensure that local patients are heard on a national level.
d) Returning public health duty to local government by ensuring that the majority of public health services will now be commissioned by Local Authorities from their ring-fenced public health budget.
Conference recognises however that all of the above policies and aspirations can be achieved without adopting the damaging and unjustified market-based approach that is proposed.
Conference regrets that some of the proposed reforms have never been Liberal Democrat policy, did not feature in our manifesto or in the agreed Coalition Programme, which instead called for an end to large-scale top-down reorganisations.
Conference therefore calls on Liberal Democrats in Parliament to amend the Health Bill to provide for:
I) More democratically accountable commissioning.
II) A much greater degree of co-terminously between local authorities and commissioning areas.
III) No decision about the spending of NHS funds to be made in private and without proper consultation, as can take place by the proposed GP consortia.
IV) The complete ruling out of any competition based on price to prevent loss-leading corporate providers under-cutting NHS tariffs, and to ensure that healthcare providers ‘compete’ on quality of care.
V) New private providers to be allowed only where there is no risk of ‘cherry picking’ which would destabilise or undermine the existing NHS service relied upon for emergencies and complex cases, and where the needs of equity, research and training are met.
VI) NHS commissioning being retained as a public function in full compliance with the Human Rights Act and Freedom of Information laws, using the skills and experience of existing NHS staff rather than the sub-contracting of commissioning to private companies.
VII) The continued separation of the commissioning and provision of services to prevent conflicts of interests.
VIII) An NHS, responsive to patients’ needs, based on co-operation rather than competition, and which promotes quality and equity not the market.
Conferences calls:
1. On the Government to uphold the NHS Constitution and publish an audit of how well organisations are living by its letter and spirit.
2. On Liberal Democrats in local government to establish local Health and Wellbeing Boards and make progress developing the new collaborative ways of working necessary to provide joined up services that are personalised and local.
3. The government to seize fully the opportunity to reverse the scandalous lack of accountability of publicly-funded local health services which has grown up under decades of Conservative and Labour governments, by:
a) Ensuring full scrutiny, including the power to require attendance, by elected local authorities of all organisations in the local health economy funded by public money, including Foundation Trusts and any external support for commissioning consortia; ensuring that all such organisations are subject to Freedom of Information requirements.
b) Ensuring Health and Wellbeing Boards (HWBs) are a strong voice for accountable local people in setting the strategic direction for and co-ordinating provision of health and social care services locally by containing substantial representation from elected local councillors; and by requiring GP Commissioning Boards to construct their Annual Plans in conjunction with the HWBs; to monitor their implementation at meetings with the HWBs not less than once each quarter; and to review the implementation of the Annual Plan with the HWBs at the end of the year prior to the construction of the Annual Plan for the forthcoming year.
c) Ensuring commissioning of health services has some degree of accountability by requiring about half of the members of the board of commissioning consortia, alongside GPs, to be local councillors appointed as non-executive directors.
d) Offering additional freedoms only to Foundation Trusts that successfully engage substantial proportions of their local populations as active members.
Applicability: England.
Stinging rebuke over NHS plans (From Your Local Guardian)
Nick Clegg has suffered a stinging rebuke from his own party over radical coalition plans to shake up the NHS.
Liberal Democrat activists overwhelmingly passed a motion criticising proposals to put GPs in control of commissioning services.
Speaker after speaker called for a rethink during a debate at the party’s spring conference in Sheffield.
New Statesman – The coalition is now split over national health policy
Controversial proposals to reform the National Health Service in England has become the first public split on policy between the two coalition parties, after the Liberal Democrat spring conference voted overwhelmingly in favour of an extensive rewrite of the bill.
While there have been numerous backbench revolts on certain issues, such as tuition fees, and areas in which the parties have codified their disagreement, such as voting reform, this is the first public division on policy.
Nick Clegg, who said yesterday he was “very relaxed and very positive” about the NHS debate, narrowly averted defeat by accepting two “rebel” amendments when it became obvious that they were going to pass.
Liberal Democrats put pressure on Nick Clegg over NHS | Metro.co.uk
The issue of the health service was expected to expose divisions within the coalition when it was debated in Sheffield on Saturday – and that proved to be the case.
Well respected party figures, including Baroness Williams and Andrew George MP, spoke out against the government’s plan for a radical reform of GP services in the NHS.
Ex-MP Evan Harris put forward a motion that called for a change to the ‘damaging and unjustified market-based approach’ to reform of the NHS that has ‘never been Liberal Democrat policy, did not feature in our manifesto or in the agreed Coalition Programme, which instead called for an end to large-scale top-down reorganisations’.
Shirley Williams urges Lib Dems to fight Andrew Lansley’s NHS plan | Politics | The Observer
There are not many 80-year-old politicians who can make their parties stop, think and change direction. But Shirley Williams is one of them. The former education secretary and co-founder of the SDP walks with a bit of a stoop these days. But intellectually she remains a towering figure at the height of her powers. In terms of influence within the Liberal Democrat party, few can match her. Among older friends and colleagues, she is known simply as “Shirl the Pearl” – a term that carries with it affection and also huge respect.
When we meet in a Sheffield hotel, during the Lib Dem spring conference, she is carrying a large bundle of papers, including letters from doctors and nurses who share her concerns about the coalition’s plans to reform the NHS.
She picks out one. “It is from a doctor. He says: ‘I didn’t think I was voting Liberal Democrat to see the Liberal Democrats supporting Conservative policies. At least you must maintain your identity.’ I think that is a perfectly fair point.”
Clegg tries to soothe Lib Dems / Britain / Home – Morning Star
Liberal Democrats have overwhelmingly voted to oppose NHS reforms in Sheffield after 5,000 activists rallied on the city’s streets in protest against the privitisation of the health service.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg was facing the music today after Lib Dems voted to opppose controversial NHS reforms at their party conference at Sheffield City Hall on Saturday.
Thousands of angry protesters stormed the streets to hit back against the cuts that are being meted out in the coalition’s name, including increased tuition fees and the controversial Health and Social Reform Bill that demonstrators argue will privatise the NHS.
No market for Britain’s NHS | Kailash Chand | Comment is free | The Guardian
It is 19 years since the British Medical Association last thought it necessary to call a crisis meeting of its members in response to upheaval in the NHS. On that occasion, 26 March 1992, representatives of doctors across Britain debated John Major’s attempt to reform the NHS by separating the purchasers of healthcare from the providers. On Tuesday a special representative meeting will take place again – this time to consider its position in relation to Andrew Lansley’s plan to take the internal market of that era several stages further and prepare the NHS for privatisation.
Lansley has a problem; few of the BMA’s 140,000 members believe his plans are sensible or will deliver what he claims. The British Medical Journal has dubbed the reforms “Dr Lansley’s Monster”, the National Audit Office has warned that the quality of service offered by GPs could drop, and the King’s Fund has pointed out the government runs the risk of replacing the bureaucracy of performance management with the red tape of economic regulation.
This mother of all reforms plans to further extend the healthcare market within the health service in England, fronted by GPs, herded en masse into commissioning consortiums. They will be given £80bn of public funds to buy healthcare from a system of competing providers under an “any willing provider” policy that will see private hospitals able to provide NHS care.
Whitechapel protest against London health cuts
More than 500 people demonstrated in East London last week against proposed cuts to the National Health Service (NHS). Protesters, including many medical staff, marched from the Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel, to St Bartholomew’s Hospital. The march met with warm support from local residents and traders in the residential areas of Whitechapel.
As well as the London Chest Hospital, the two hospitals are part of the Barts and the London NHS Trust. Along with the chest specialism, the Trust is also a London-wide specialist centre for head trauma treatment. The Trust last month announced plans to cut its workforce by 10 percent. It said it was making the cuts in order to meet efficiency savings of £20 billion demanded by the government by 2014-15.
The Trust has claimed that these cuts will mainly be to corporate and back-office posts, but they will directly affect patient care. Of the 630 proposed job losses, 250 are nursing posts. Consultants’ hours will be cut, and 100 in-patient beds lost. Unions point out that cutting administrative staff also results in an increased workload for nurses.
The protests were against cuts across the NHS as a whole. As the march passed through the financial districts of the City of London, largely empty at that time of night, anger was directed at the premises of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Deutsche Bank, and Vodafone. Under a deal with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, Vodafone was able to avoid some £6 billion in taxes. RBS is 84 percent publicly-owned, following a £45 billion government bailout. On the same day that the protest took place it was revealed that ten senior executives at RBS are to share a bonus of up to £28 million.
Patient voice may be lost in NHS reforms | GP online
Reform backs DoH plans to reorganise the NHS. But it says the proposals neither provide accountability to patients nor dismantle central regulation.
Reorganising the commissioning structure would leave responsibility divided between consortia, local authorities and the NHS Commissioning Board, according to Reform’s report.
‘The Health Bill gives the NHS Commissioning Board significant powers over consortia,’ the report says. ‘But it also gives the secretary of state power to direct the Board not only in what it does but in how it does it. Consequently accountability runs to the centre.’
Reform is also concerned about how well NHS workers understand the changes.