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Following my post in January entitled "NHS Reforms: Patient Choice or Doctor's Choice?" I exposed the fundamental flaws in the reforms planned for the NHS, as well as the conflicts of interest they create. As they stand GP's will be able to profiteer in many different ways, destroying the trust between patient and GP.
Well Channel 4 has today also gone on the offensive, exposing the fundamental flaws in the proposed bill and challenging politicians/providers. They highlight how the current bill is almost devoid of any legislation focused on tackling fundamental conflicts of interest and stopping GP's from being able to profiteer from such reforms (at the expense of patient care). Channel 4 pointed out numerous ways GP's will be able to profiteer (e.g. referring work to providers they are 'partners' in, being given a share of the profits created by reducing the amount spent on care for patients etc), and went further by exposing the plans of some of the groups involved (e.g. Integrated Health Partners).
Will the Government now start to listen and avoid this potential catastophe? Let's hope so, though they haven't listened to date (e.g. to the concerns of the Royal College of Surgeons, the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Nursing). It's interesting the BBC and Nick Robinson are nowhere to be seen when it comes to challenging these NHS reforms ... I wonder why!
