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.