The Health Secretary listened to patients and staff about their views on the future of the NHS. There have been nine listening events so far this week around the country – including in the north west, midlands, south east and London. Audiences have included GPs, nurses and patients.
Andrew Lansley also launched the UK’s first online health tracker that lets patients with spinal injuries track their recovery using iPads.
Members are very concerned at the proposed changes. They do not want the NHS open to private competition;community nurses floated off from the NHS , GPs burdened with the work from PCTs, they only want clean hospitals with short waiting times and caring Drs and Nurses. When we took a petition against the changes onto the streets, people queued up to sign! We realise we cost money in hospitals,and in care and are expected to stay at home,but cutting money to councils so they cut services which help us stay at home doesn’t make sense!Listening is one thing, but will you act on what you hear?Or is this all just your chance to dismantle the NHS by opening it to the market in the early years before an election?
If the Health and Social Care Bill sets out some of the parameters for competition but much of this is of necessity very broad and open to interpretation – ( see Angela’s current blog at the Nuffield trust site- off this page) and If this job of interpretation of so-called parameters for competition falls largely to the new economic regulator – Monitor, then who else most importantly gets to interpret things as they happen? Dare I remind everyone even at this late stage about the Patient led NHS brought in back in 2005. Patients and the public come first so let’s make sure there’s room for even one individual to raise concerns appropriately when it’s necessary to affect the direction of change. Surely the personalisation of health and social care thanks to the most modern of IT technology is possible, without compromising upon the wholeness of an individuals work/life balance – including one’s enjoyment of a fullfilling family life lived as one may choose in privacy, dignity and with autonomy.