"Hand Back The NHS," Demands British Medical Association Consultants' Leader
In a speech to the annual UK consultants' conference, Dr Jonathan Fielden, chairman of the BMA's consultants committee will say that doctors no longer trust the government to run the NHS in England and its policies lack vision and leadership.
He will say: "This government has placed too much emphasis on central political control. It is the lack of clinical evidence being used in some areas and the lack of clinical, and most importantly, public engagement that has meant this government has lost the trust of the profession. Let the local clinicians and patients take their vision forward. Unshackle the professions and let them deliver.
"It is the government's handling of the NHS that is at fault. Give it back, take your hands off, stop meddling. Let the professions lead, hand in hand with the public, and you will see the progress our patients want. It is this combination that is delivering the best in the most successful hospitals, not central interference. A better vision, built on real trust."
Dr Fielden will urge the government to "dump the polyclinic" and "stop wasting money on poor procurement in the private sector and invest more intelligently in the NHS".
He will say: "Waiting times are at record lows, delivered not by the private sector but by the hard work and dedication of NHS staff, led by consultants. It is consultants' hard work, their leadership and innovation that delivers for the NHS. We know it, our patients know it, it's about time ministers acknowledged it too."
The full text of Dr Jonathan Fielden's speech will be available when he delivers his speech at 10.10am on Wednesday 4th June 2008.
The BMA's consultants conference takes place at BMA House, Tavistock Square, London, WC1H 9JP.
Timings of key debates:
10:25-10:45
- Criticism of the conduct of the Darzi review, expressing concerns that proposals are being made following a "sham consultation" and accusing it of "attempting to mislead the public"
- A rejection of the "imposed model of privately owned polyclinics across the English Health Service" as "unproven, crude and expensive"
10:45 - 10:55
- A call for the government to acknowledge that its policy of Independent Sector Treatment Centres (ISTCs) was mistaken, and to "waste no more taxpayers' money on it"
11:10 - 11:25
- Concern about the18-week target for planned care. One motion warns that the rapid implementation of the target, without a corresponding expansion in the consultant workforce, is delaying treatment for emergency patients. Another calls for it to be abandoned altogether.
11:30 - 11:50
- Motions attacking proposals to create new posts in which doctors registered as specialists would practise at a level lower than consultant
View the full agenda at: http://tinyurl.com/5ewh6e
British Medical Association
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