destroy the NHS bill

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The Liberal-Denocrat CONservative coalition government is driving GPs away from the NHS. 

Conservative election poster 2010

A few recent news articles about the UK’s Conservative and Liberal-Democrat coalition government – the ConDem’s – brutal attack on the National Health Service.

The perfect storm for early GP retirement | From the Editors | GPonline.com Blogs

Earlier this week GPonline.com reported that GPs are beginning to take early retirement because of confusion around NHS reforms. The results of our poll on the issue show that 75% of you believe the Health Bill is leading GPs to retire early.

However, it is not just NHS reform that is causing GPs to consider early retirement. As the comments below our story show, changes the government is making to the NHS pension scheme are also likely to be a major factor in any decision.

Pension contributions look set to increase at a time when income for most GPs remains static (or is even falling because of rising expenses). There is also concern about the impact of the government proposals on the final value of any pension.

GPs are working harder now than ever before. And, with uncertainty about the future because of the Health Bill, worries about lack of resources in the NHS due to spending constraints in the coming years and little prospect of any increase in pay, it’s no surprise that many GPs are thinking about hanging up their stethoscopes early.

Add to this the proposed changes to public sector pensions, which means that some doctors may be financially better off if they retire now, and the government is creating a perfect storm that makes early retirement seem the only sensible option to many GPs of a certain age.

UNISON Press | Press Releases Front Page

Health unions are united in their opposition to Government plans to make NHS workers pay more, work longer for less pension.

While sector talks continue, the unions have set up a campaign group to coordinate their responses and to prepare for the possibility of industrial action. Christina McAnea, UNISON Head of Health said:

“No union wants this, but our members are facing cuts in jobs, a pay freeze at a time of rising inflation, increasing workloads and stress, as well as the potential break-up of the NHS as we know it – in England at least.

“Now the Government is proposing an average 50% increase in pension contribution rates (more for higher paid staff) and staff will have to work longer to get less.”

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Apologies that I’ve not done a NHS news review for a few days – I’ve had hardware/networking problems.

Lansley has called for health care apps – I wonder if Pepsi, KentuckyFriedMSG and McShit will be contributing any advising on healthy eating …

UNISON protests wealthy private patients leapfrogging in the NHS
UNISON protests wealthy private patients leapfrogging in the NHS

UNISON have been protesting about the introduction of a two-tier NHS. This is clearly an issue of privatising the NHS.

Conservative election poster 2010

A few recent news articles about the UK’s Conservative and Liberal-Democrat coalition government – the ConDem’s – brutal attack on the National Health Service.

NHS invites software developers to create healthcare apps – 8/22/2011 – Computer Weekly

The Department of Health is calling on software developers to create apps for use by the NHS.

Health secretary Andrew Lansley wants medical professionals and software developers to come up with ideas for “apps and maps” that would “help patients make informed decisions about their care.”
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Protest to stop private patients queue-jumping / Britain / Home – Morning Star

A protest was staged outside the Department of Health today to call for controversial health reforms to be ditched as they allow private patients to “leapfrog” to the front of NHS waiting lists.

Health union Unison, which organised the protest, warned that a lethal cocktail of economic uncertainty, spiralling waiting lists and budget deficits meant it was the “worst possible time” to be pressing ahead with the Health and Social Care Bill, which will bring in a major, untried, untested reorganisation.

The demonstration saw an acrobat dressed as a fat-cat businessman leapfrog a “living” NHS queue straight into the arms of a waiting “surgeon.”

Unison head of health Christina McAnea said: “If the Health and Social Care Bill goes ahead, the outlook for the NHS and patients looks bleak.

“The government’s polices have already led to NHS patients waiting longer, often in great pain, for their operations.

“The Bill will make matters worse by taking the cap off the number of private patients that hospitals are allowed to treat.

“It will be an enormous temptation for cash-strapped hospitals to boost their income by prioritising paying patients, pushing NHS patients even further down the ever-spiralling waiting lists.

“Even 14 of the elite group of foundation trusts ended the last financial year in deficit, which is a grim warning for the future of NHS finances.

“The economic uncertainty and budget deficits add to this lethal cocktail and it should be obvious to the government that now is not the time to bring in this massive, damaging NHS reorganisation.”

Unison said that latest statistics revealed NHS waiting times were increasing, with those waiting six months or more for treatment up by 61 per cent in the last year, while the government’s drive for £20 billion in efficiency savings was said to be leading to ward closures, staff cuts and rationing across the country.
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Conservative election poster 2010

A few recent news articles about the UK’s Conservative and Liberal-Democrat coalition government – the ConDem’s – brutal attack on the National Health Service.

BMA Exposes Government’s Unjustifiable Changes in Healthy Pension Scheme | News Tonight

In a shocking revelation, it has come to light that the controversial Government plans to reform NHS pensions could put an extra £230,000 burden on GPs over their career. It has been reported that BMA forecasts have revealed that the NHS pension reforms made by the Government earlier this year are already raiding GPs up to £125,000 each over the course of their lifetimes.

Further, GPs will lose £124,500 by the time they reach 85, if the proposal produced in April, involving shift from use of the retail price index to the lower consumer price index to uplift NHS pensions, is passed.

Reacting to the unjustifiable changes to the financially healthy pension scheme, Dr. Hamish Meldrum, chair of the BMA council, said: “his isn’t about affordability; it’s about the Treasury looking for yet another quick hit from public sector workers. Doctors pursuing a career as a consultant or GP will have to pay significantly higher contributions in return for a much reduced pension at retirement”.
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Anger as ‘ludicrious’ referral gateway rejects up to a quarter of GP requests – newsarticle-content – Pulse

Exclusive GPs have been forced to formally complain to PCTs over a series of technical and administrative problems with referral management centres, with one practice claiming a quarter of its referrals have been rejected.

In NHS West Essex, GPs have been left frustrated by rejections and the insistence of administrators that referrals are resubmitted, sometimes several times, without having been triaged by its Central Referral Service.

Examples of rejections include a referral to a surgeon for diagnosis and removal of a lump refused because a minor surgery proforma was not attached, and a gynaecology referral refused ‘in error’.

A GP in Uttlesford, Essex, who wished not to be named, said: ‘I am vehemently opposed to referral management systems. It is intensely frustrating and is not working for administrative reasons and ludicrous technical problems.’

A practice manager at a practice in Essex claimed a quarter of its referrals had been rejected by the referral triage system: ‘I feel our patients are suffering. So many receive letters stating their appointments have been cancelled.’
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NHS spends nearly £16 million a year on headhunters – Telegraph

The NHS is spending nearly £16million a year paying recruitment firms to headhunt senior executives … it was revealed yesterday.

In one example, a primary care trust paid an agency more than £111,000 to fill the post of its chief executive, only to later promote its own deputy into the role.

The vast expenditure comes despite Government promises to cut back on “wasteful bureaucracy” among health trusts.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has pledged to reduce money spent on managers and pen-pushers by 45 per cent over the next four years. Hospitals are also being forced to axe thousands of front-line staff in an effort to save the NHS billions of pounds.

Yesterday, Freedom of Information figures revealed primary care trusts and strategic health authorities spent an estimated £15.9million paying recruitment firms to hire new managers.
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Darzi centres heralded as “massive waste of money” – News – Practice Business

PCTs struggle to justify Darzi centres after revelations of low patient numbers

Statistics from over 95 PCTs have revealed that 26% of Darzi centres have fewer than 500 registered patients, and that 35% had fewer than 1,000 patents.

The new information was gained through the Freedom of information Act and revealed via investigation by GP online that also found that over 12% of all Darzi centres had no registered patients whatsoever (though some stated that they did not offer this option). One of the centres had just a single registered patient.

Each PCT was forced to set up a Darzi centre under the previous government as part of a plan to provide primary patient care seven days a week between the hours of 8am and 8pm each day.

The centres cost around £1.1m each year and the General Practitioners Committee’s (GPC) negotiator, Dr Peter Holden, has stated that the on reflection the centres were “a massive waste of money”, saying that it was “outrageous” that centres had failed to register fewer than 500 patents.

Adelaide Surgery in Southampton has just 1,220 patients registered, GP Online reveals, despite receiving £907,000 in 2011/12, which means the centre receives around £743 per patient per year – or seven times as most GP practices.
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[I need to check, but I think that the real issue about Darzi centres (Polyclinics) is that PCTs were forced to provide them by government ~ Darzi clinics being the latest policy fad. ‘The Plot Against the NHS’ by Colin Leys and Stewart Player discusses Darzi clinics.]

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Conservative election poster 2010

A few recent news articles about the UK’s Conservative and Liberal-Democrat coalition government – the ConDem’s – brutal attack on the National Health Service.

Private finance initiatives a costly ‘drug’ to taxpayer, MPs tell chancellor | Politics | The Guardian

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In a damning report, the Treasury select committee says that with the yield on government bonds at near-record lows, using a PFI deal for a new infrastructure project could end up costing up to 1.7 times as much as paying for it directly out of the public purse.

Andrew Tyrie, the committee’s Conservative chairman, urged the chancellor to call an immediate review, and bring the costs of all previous projects on to the Treasury’s balance sheet.

The independent office for budget responsibility recently estimated that the total liability from the capital costs of PFI projects alone was about £40bn, which would increase Britain’s debt-to-GDP ratio by almost 3%.

The PFI was first announced by Norman Lamont in 1992, but the complex deals proliferated at Gordon Brown’s Treasury. Private sector providers agree to build and run schools, hospitals and other infrastructure projects, typically over 30 years, in exchange for a stream of payments from the public purse.

But Tyrie said that instead of transferring risk to the private sector and cutting costs for the taxpayer, PFI had fooled the public – and Whitehall officials – into thinking they could get shiny new public services “on the never-never”.
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NHS waiting lists rise show people can’t trust Cameron to keep NHS promises – Healey | The Labour Party

John Healey MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, said in response to official figures published today revealing that the number of people who waited over 18 weeks for NHS treatment increased by over 9,000 between June 2010 and June this year – up by a third:

“Compared with last year, a third more patients are waiting longer than 18 weeks for hospital treatment and the situation is getting worse by the month. With the figures also showing a doubling since May 2010 in the number of patients waiting over a year for treatment, it is clear that people can’t trust David Cameron to keep his NHS promises.

“The NHS is starting to go backwards again under the Tories. Instead of concentrating efforts on improving services for patients, Ministers have spent a wasted year forcing through their reckless and damaging NHS reorganisation.”

Govt launches second NHS listening exercise – IFAonline

The NHS Future Forum is to conduct a second stage of its listening exercise following a request by the government to assess its revised proposals.

It will focus on how to use information to improve public health, education and training for healthcare workers, integrating care and the public’s health.

The announcement has been applauded by The King’s Fund, which said it would provide an opportunity to further examine some of the government’s proposals.
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UNISON Press | Press Releases Front Page

UNISON, the UK’s largest union, today accused Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley of selective hearing over his response to the NHS Future Forum’s (FF) recommendations.

“Far from implementing the core recommendations on competition, the Health Secretary is just ignoring the parts that he doesn’t wants to hear”, warned Christina McAnea, UNISON’s Head of Health.

The NHS Future Forum announced today it is continuing its listening exercise, but the union is calling on the Government not to just listen, but to take action over fears raised by NHS staff, patients, health unions and the public.

Christina McAnea, went on to say:

“The Future Forum said that Monitor should not be an economic regulator and its primary concern should be the quality of patient care. Andrew Lansley has not adopted this recommendation and Monitor’s main objective is to enforce competition law paving the way for privatisation.

“The Forum also recommended that the Bill should include reference to promoting collaboration and co-operation in the NHS that is still sadly missing from the Bill. The NHS benefits hugely from open sharing of ideas and innovations adopting a ‘commercial confidentiality’ approach will be a major step backwards for patients.”
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Conservative election poster 2010

A recent news article about the UK’s Conservative and Liberal-Democrat coalition government – the ConDem’s – brutal attack on the National Health Service.

‘Wake up’ to risks of NHS reforms before too late, says Lib Dem MP | GPonline.com

A Liberal Democrat member of the health select committee has called for MPs and the public to ‘wake up’ to the risks of Health Bill reforms before it’s too late.

Andrew George (St Ives, Cornwall) refused to support the Health and Social Care Bill during its progress through parliament, and has strongly attacked the proposed reforms.

He argued that the Bill would ‘damage the NHS more than it will help it in spite of the ‘pause’ and changes’.

Mr George has called a public meeting in his constituency of St Ives the week before the Bill goes through the Commons in early September.

National and local speakers will be invited to take part in the event and debate the future of the NHS.

Mr George said: ‘I’m pleased that earlier protests resulted in some improvements to the Bill following the ‘pause’ and ‘listening exercise’.

‘However, it has still not dealt with some of the major risks the Bill represents – particularly the creation of an NHS independent of government and the future role of the private sector in running great swathes of much of our public health services.’

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