Scrap NHS reforms, doctors tell Lords

[LeftishBrit]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/oct/03/nhs-bill-doctors-lords

More than 400 senior doctors and public health experts are calling on the House of Lords to throw out the government's health and social care bill, saying it will do "irreparable harm to the NHS, to individual patients and to society as a whole"...

"While we welcome the emphasis placed on establishing a closer working relationship between public health and local government, the proposed reforms as a whole will disrupt, fragment and weaken the country's public health capabilities," says the letter.

"The government claims that the reforms have the backing of the health professions. They do not. Neither do they have the general support of the public."...

..."It (the health bill) ushers in a significantly heightened degree of commercialisation and marketisation that will lead to the harmful fragmentation of patient care; aggravate risks to individual patient safety; erode medical ethics and trust within the healthcare system; widen health inequalities; waste much money on attempts to regulate and manage competition; and undermine the ability of the health system to respond effectively and efficiently to communicate disease outbreaks and other public health emergencies," the letter says....

(Much more at link.)

[T_i_B]

1. Conservatives in celebratory mood as health experts warn reforms will cause ‘irreperable damage’

http://newsthump.com/2011/10/04/conservatives-in-celebratory-mood-as-health-experts-warn-reforms-will-cause-irreparable-harm/

After a letter signed by nearly 400 public health experts warned that the overhaul of the NHS in England will cause irreparable harm, Health Secretary Andrew Lansley is expected to tell the Conservative Party conference in his speech later today that their plan is working perfectly.

Lansley, who will enter the stage to Kool and the Gang’s party anthem Celebration, will deliver what is expected to be an upbeat routine.

“We were going to get our own letter drafted and signed by health professionals in support of our reforms, but unfortunately Nick Clegg’s grandfather is dead,” he is to joke.

Quoting directly from the letter it is also understood he will say “The bill will do irreparable harm to the NHS, to individual patients and to society as a whole.” He will then pause briefly before pulling a party popper out of his jacket pocket and letting it off to what is expected to be the longest standing ovation since Phil Collins announced his retirement from the music industry.

[LeftishBrit]

2. As often, Newsthump just about sums it up!