Blair backs NHS Reform

Ha! Ha! Ha! Tony Blair has made a speech urging the public to embrace NHS reform, claiming that a massive reconfiguration of the service is required to improve services to all. If very keen you can watch his speech HERE. If lucky you may hear of Sir George Alberti,(former RCP president and presider over the introduction of the shambles that is acute medical care of the emergency patient in NHS hospitals today) and Professor Roger Boyle, cardiac tsar, recommending this new reconfiguration, which would mean moving much acute and specialist care to specialist hospitals

2 points:

1: NHS reconfiguration is being driven by acute financial constraints, especially in SE England, and not by demands to improve the service. We will be found out in the end as A + E and maternity departments in DGHs are forced to close and capacity to replace the sevice will be inadequately funded. I am all for reconfiguration of some services into larger specialist centres, but the quid pro quo for that should be the presence of several small hospitals (I would envisage mixed private and NHS facilities) which will be able to repatriate most of the routine work that is performed in supercentres and will be able to provide genuine patient choice, the ability to be treated locally and competition on cost that will save the NHS money overall and increase capacity in the Superhospitals.

2: The drivers for this change are ivory tower dwellers who have an interest in part 1 (get all the work to the specialist centres) but not in part 2: (get routine & potentially lucrative work out into a competitive local health economy)

So I can see a classic House of Lords reform maneouvre coming up here: First take money and services away from small district hospitals-don't close them (politically unacceptable in most areas-except in safe conservative or Lib Dem constituencies) but let them wither on the vine, along with patients' trust and confidence in local community services and facilities. Then second...was there a second? No I don't think so-lets leave it as it is it will be too difficult to change things any further, and we might lose control. Oh dear we already have...