16th May 2011

Cameron’s NHS Plans in Further Disarray

• Royal College of GPs say health reforms will cause ‘irreparable damage to the core values of the NHS’
• Cameron’s claims of a genuine “listening exercise” exposed as a sham at Prime Minister’s Questions

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Last week the Prime Minister faced a fresh blow as the people he is placing at the centre of his reforms, GPs, said his plans ‘will cause irreparable damage to the core values of the NHS’.

Dr Clare Gerada, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, which represents 42,000 family doctors made her comments in the middle of the Prime Minister’s so called “listening exercise” on his troubled reforms.

Alan Keen MP said:

“The Prime Minister says he is willing to listen. Well, he should listen to the people he is placing at the centre of these reforms. GPs are saying loud and clear his plans will fragment patient care and cause irreparable damage to the core values of the NHS.”

Shadow Health Secretary, John Healey said:

"This is a red card for David Cameron's NHS plans and reinforces Labour's warnings. From competition law to charging patients, GPs are making it clear they don't want the Tories' free market NHS, and the prime minister must now make radical changes to his health plans in order to regain the trust of NHS professionals."

However, the “listening exercise” itself was thrown into question at Prime Ministers Questions when Ed Miliband asked the Prime Minister why the NHS Chief Executive, Sir David Nicholson, had written to NHS staff, after the “listening exercise” had begun, to say the timeline for implementing the reforms “remains unchanged”.

Leader of the Labour Party, Ed Miliband said:

"The Prime Minister has been found out.  This ‘listening exercise’ is simply a PR stunt. Doctors and nurses were already sceptical about whether this was a genuine consultation and this letter from the Department of Health shows they may have pressed the pause button on the legislation in Parliament, but on the ground they are ploughing ahead with their top down reorganisation.”

Sir David Nicholson letter

·         A week after the announcement of the “pause” in the Government’s NHS reform programme, NHS Chief Executive Sir David Nicholson told NHS organisations that “the proposed timeline for completing the key elements of the transition at local level remains unchanged”.

“For planning purposes, and subject to the results of the listening exercise and the passage of the Bill, the proposed timeline for completing the key elements of the transition at local level remains unchanged. So, GP consortia would take control of commissioning from April 2013 following authorisation by the NHS Commissioning Board. Health and Wellbeing Boards would also take on their full statutory powers and PCTs would be abolished by April 2013. And we continue to aim for completion of the Foundation Trust pipeline by April 2014.”

Sir David Nicholson, letter to Chief Executives of NHS bodies in England, 13 April 2011

"I know that to some the message to press on with implementation while significantly increasing our levels of engagement on our plans may seem paradoxical. I don’t believe that it is."

Sir David Nicholson, letter to Chief Executives of NHS bodies in England, 13 April 2011

Royal College of General Practitioners: “irreparable damage”

·         This week Dr Clare Gerada, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, said that in its current form, the Government’s Health and Social Care Bill “will cause irreparable damage to the core values of the NHS”.

Clare Gerada:           Well I’m a family doctor and I want to make these reforms work for my patients and I feel as the Royal College feel that if this Bill is enacted as it currently is that it will cause irreparable damage to the core values of the NHS which of course we know are free at the point of use irrespective of your ability to pay.

Justin Webb:             In what areas then do you need change to take place?

Clare Gerada:           Well there’s the two main areas really. One is around the competition and the market forces and exposing our NHS to the full force of European law…

Justin Webb:             What’s the problem there?

Clare Gerada:           The problem is there is that number one it’s very complicated, it will increase cost, it will cause fragmentation of our services, multiple providers and in the end it will be far harder to provide joined up care for patients.

BBC R4 Today, 9 May 2011