A PETITION with 1,000 names protesting against health reforms has been handed to York Central MP Hugh Bayley by a new lobby group in the city.
Members of Defend Our NHS York are calling for a halt to the Government’s sweeping reforms of the NHS. Some of them met Mr Bayley in Parliament Street on Saturday, when they handed over the petition.
The group was formed four months ago and comprises medical workers and concerned members of the public.
Dr James Chan, one of the group’s founders, said he believed the Health and Social Care Bill, which aims to abolish primary care trusts and hand spending powers to GPs, would lead to a conflict of interests.
“We believe the NHS reforms to be a danger to the quality and comprehensiveness of healthcare currently provided,” he said.
“The doctor-patient relationship will stand to suffer as GPs will be responsible for treating patients as well as saving money – potentially enabling profits to be earned for themselves.
“This will lead to huge conflicts of interest, which will force patients to question the true motives behind GP decisions.”
Dr Chan, who is based at York Hospital, asked if future decisions would be “clinical or financial”.
He said the coalition was split on health policy and that now was the time to “crank up the pressure.”
The 1,000 signatures handed to Mr Bayley were collected on the streets of York and the wards of the hospital.
He said: “The number of signatures shows that people are very worried about the future of the NHS.
“The coalition government health reforms haven’t been tried and tested.
“They look bureaucratic and could lead to privatisation and less accountable services.”
Mr Bayley, who will now take the signatures back to Westminster, said the reforms should be put on hold until there had been consensus on what was best for the NHS.
Health service’s focus on quality
ON Saturday a petition signed by 1,000 people was presented to York MP Hugh Bayley to express concerns about reforms to the NHS. Change always provokes an emotive response, and the Health and Social Care Bill, which aims to abolish primary care trusts, is undoubtedly one of the coalition Government’s more contentious proposals, in a year full of controversial policies.
But the country is saddled with debt and the NHS costs a frightening £100 billion to run. The Government is therefore right to seek ways of cutting wasted expenditure, but the overarching criterion must always be the best possible care, and we agree with British Medical Association (BMA) chairman Dr Hamish Meldrum that too great an emphasis on financial stability could come at the expense of patient care.
The BMA has called on the gGvernment to amend many of the Bill’s measures, but stopped short of opposing it outright, which Dr Meldrum says would send the wrong message. And this comes after Lib Dems rejected the plans at its party conference.
It is no bad thing to have a divide on this debate, because the important thing is not to go too far with radical reforms to the NHS. Yes, it must modernise, but not at the expense of care being there at the time of need.
David Cameron would do well to recall his pre-election promise that there would be no cuts to the NHS. And the Government must listen to concerns raised not only within its own ranks, but by heath care professionals and people like the signatories to the York petition in order to avoid a potentially disastrous mistake.
Because the NHS has to be based on quality, not price.
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