NHS on danger list

Published: 28 April, 2011

• THE economist Dr Allyson Pollock, ardent NHS supporter, commenting on the Health and Social Care Bill, has said that the measures proposed will destroy the NHS, completely undermining its principles, not only drastically changing its organisation. 

If people don’t want this vandalism we should all take swift action in mass public protest now, while David Cameron has agreed to “pause and reflect”. We should insist on more than postponing the Bill’s implementation, aiming to get it totally withdrawn.

The most basically destructive effect of the Bill would be to open the way for privatisation in the very heart of the NHS. Since the objective of commercial enterprises is making money, taxpayers would be subsidising their profits in addition to patient care. Firms would be likely to cherry-pick the more profitable services, leaving more problematic ones, such as care of the elderly with complex health needs, to burden the NHS.

I have two strong objections to Health Secretary Andrew Lansley’s plans. The first concerns giving GP consortia control of much NHS funding. GPs’ essential duty, for  which they are trained, is to provide the best medical care for patients. This role may easily conflict with expenditure control, which might well require disallowing such care.

Second, I object to establishing hospitals as “foundation trusts”. Deceptively appearing purely as an honour, its effect is far greater, granting hospitals independence from central direction by the Department of Health. So they can use their resources purely for themselves, even selling off NHS resources such as land, without any regard to the needs of other health institutions outside their area. Thus the fairness of a national body distributing assets where they are most needed is entirely lost.

Modernising changes are certainly desirable, but not at the cost of wholesale reorganisation, deplored by many medical bodies.

The proposed changes induce feelings of insecurity and confusion among swathes of medical staff, so detrimental to their concentration on patient care. Such huge changes are costly and highly undesirable at times of financial troubles. So let’s affiliate urgently to the NHS Support Federation, to prevent huge damage to an invaluable health care organisation, greatly appreciated by a huge majority of the nation.

ANGELA SINCLAIR-LOIUTIT
Highbury Hill, N5