Doctors show what they really care about ... and it's not their patients!

Doctors, just like all other professions, previously opposed the Government's proposed NHS reforms outright ... but when the Government ignored them, they were quick to 'give up' and 'get on' with it.

However Doctors have voted to strike today ... about one particular aspect of the NHS reforms ... but not those parts set to decimate the NHS ... 

Doctors have instead decided to strike over proposed changes to their pensions! (which, even after the change, will see them receiving 250% more money than an average person receives when they are still working, and before any Tax/NI is taken off!)

This just goes to show how these people, who take the hippocratic oath (and who we are supposed to trust) have, for some time, not become medical doctors due any 'calling'/desire to care for people (i.e. a vocation, as it once was), but to get on a highly lucrative 'gravy train' consisting of money (NHS, private, shares/bonuses from rationing your care), self-interest and greed. 

If this were not true then they would be striking over those parts of the bill that will decimate the NHS, ration/privatize healthcare and, to put it bluntly ... 'kill people' ... shame on them ... people will soon trust them as much/little as the politicians and the banksters!

Destruction of the NHS ... and 'a mockery of democracy'

The current Government are hell-bent on destroying the NHS ... a NATIONAL health service set up in 1948 by Aneurin Bevan and created out of the ideal that good healthcare should be available to all, regardless of any wealth, and based upon three core principles:

* that it meet the needs of everyone
* that it be free at the point of delivery
* that it be based on clinical need, not ability to pay.

Prior to gaining office the Conservative party deliberately kept secret their radical plans for the NHS from the people of this country. Their plans for the NHS were cooked up by Lansley over many years in opposition, and yet they failed to tell the people anything about their plans prior to the election (as no-one would have trusted them, and no-one would have voted for them)! 

Worse still, the Conservatives continually lied and made use of copious amounts of spin (nb David Cameron is only trained in PR) to persuade the country that they could be trusted with the NHS and that the "NHS would be safe in their hands". What irony and hypocrisy. The NHS reforms introduced by this manipulative Government therefore had no mandate from the electorate, and on entering Government they have consistently (and deliberately) circumvented any democratic right/process. In summary, they have made a 'mockery of democracy'.

And what about their continual spin ... that the NHS is 'Safe in their Hands?' What a joke! On being told by the Information Commissioner (and the High Court) to publish the risk register associated with these reforms, the Government have steadfastly refused to do so, whilst continuing to rail-road the reforms through.

The reforms are highly toxic and designed to deliberately destroy the very foundations/principles of the NHS. They open the doors to mass profiteering, by commissioning groups as well as private providers, which will taking money out of the system that would have otherwise been spent on healthcare. 

They will also destroy the 'doctor-patient' relationship and any trust patients have in their doctors, due to clear conflicts of interest (made clear by the Royal College of GP's) that have not been addressed! Doctors will now have to balance any diagnostic decision (and any decisions about subsequent treatment) with reduced budgets and a new found ability to profiteer (e.g. from withholding/limiting any diagnoses/care provided). The reforms deliberately try to bribe GP's to ration healthcare (e.g. by offering them bonuses for doing so). Yet despite this, the vast majority of GP's directly oppose the bill and want to see it dropped, some out of 'principle', and some from the fact that they know they are going to effectively become a scapegoat and the focus of people's anger (as people realise that care is effectively being withheld by them, unless they can afford to pay). 

Indeed, this Government has been careful to deflect any blame on the future lack of healthcare provision away from themselves and onto local groups (a divide and rule strategy). GP's are clearly the main target but the Government have also effectively removed the world NATIONAL from the term 'National Health Service', as there will no longer be a national standard for the type, or level, of care offered across the country (with no-one taking overall responsibility for this). This will result in a "post code lottery" health service; destroying the concept/principles of a NATIONAL health service ... And if anyone thinks they'll be able to simply move doctors if they're not happy, think again, as the Government have not allowed this (you will effectively have to move house to change your GP surgery - and even then, it will still depend on you being able to find a different, and more caring, commissioning group)!

If offered treatment, patients are also seeing waiting times dramatically increase, with Government officials desperately trying to remove any remaining waiting time measures/targets (n.b. people are also seeing appointments offered, but repeatedly cancelled too). Increasing waiting times are also a crucial (but toxic and hidden) ingredient of these reforms, as they are needed to pressurize people into paying for health insurance and/or paying to queue jump (NB they will now be able to jump the queue, as NHS hospitals will be able to allocate up to 49% of their time/resources to those who pay, and those willing/able to pay will be treated first, by exactly the same NHS doctors and nurses ... which in turn will make waiting lists/times even longer).

This destroys the very foundations of the NHS, in that healthcare should be "based on clinical need and not the ability to pay". With these reforms this will clearly not be the case in the future. Indeed, it is noticeable that Government ministers are always careful not to use this particular phrase when defending their reforms, and only say the NHS is about care still being 'free at the point of delivery'.

With the destruction of the core principles of the NHS, what we are seeing is the dismantling of the NHS ... and a list of 'the guilty', who should be charged with 'crimes against humanity', can be found below, along with their respective roles:

David Cameron, for his lies, deceit and hypocrisy. Andrew Lansley, for cooking up this immoral plan to destroy the NHS. Both parties are guilty of pressing on regardless, ignoring fundamental issues/concerns raised by every healthcare professional group, and systematically manipulating/ circumventing democratic processes (e.g. publication of the risk register).

 

Nick Clegg, for allowing these reforms to progress at all (with no electoral mandate) and forcing Liberal Democrats to ignore all concerns/principles in order to vote for these reforms. Shirley Williams for selling her soul to help Clegg and switching from 'protector' to 'cheerleader' (NB Lord Owen, a previous Democrat along-side Shirley Williams, is still desperately trying to stop the bill without the publication of the risk register demanded by the Courts). 

 

Ed Miliband for 'throwing a sickie' and not attending a rally against NHS reforms, so he could accept a VIP invitation to watch Hull City play football instead.

Andy Burnham (and John Healey), for failing to articulate a clear (and proven) alternative to these reforms ... based on engaging and empowering the workforce to radically improve the service ... and in the process making the NHS more seamless and efficient (i.e. 'lean') ... n.b. the complete opposite of this Government's approach, which focuses on fragmenting (and destroying) the service, ignoring any advice and/ or concerns of healthcare professionals, and handing over the money to those seeking pure profit (e.g. McKinsey's, commissioning groups, insurance companies and private providers), and not those on the front-line who are passionate about the NHS and want to create better healthcare for all (i.e. the healthcare professionals).

and finally, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, for ditching socialism (in favour of crony capitalism, self-interest and 'spin') and for abandoning all the 'ordinary', hard working, people they were supposed to represent. Their failures (e.g. bank deregulation, bank bailouts and the subsequent pressure to slash public services to pay back all the resulting debt) in effect created an 'open door' for the Conservatives to step into, impose a slash and burn strategy, and blame the Labour party for having to do it! 

RIP NHS ... a casualty of self-interest and greed, and a lack of real democracy ...

and why ... well this is down to a combination of ignorance and apathy.

RIP Britain ... and watch out for impending riots.

Aristotle once said ...

"Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers"

"In a democracy the poor will have more power than the rich, because there are more of them, and the will of the majority is supreme"

Those currently in power are desperately trying to ensure that this will never happen ... and indeed the opposite remains true ... by wielding all the power at their disposal (including the deployment of paramilitary forces armed with water cannons, tear gas, tasers and plastic bullets) ... and the answer to this ... mass protest ... withdrawal of labour ... and the use of 21st century technology.

Ignorance is not bliss ... and democracy is a long way off (e.g. look at the NHS reforms)!

Scientists have suggested the theory of democracy has a key flaw - that most of the public are just too stupid to pick the 'right candidate'!

According to the theory, the democratic process relies on the assumption that a majority of citizens recognise the best political candidate, or best policy idea, when they see it.

However research led by Professor David Dunning, a psychologist at Cornell University, recently showed incompetent people are inherently unable to judge the competence of other people, or the quality of those people's ideas.

This research is misleading however, and for numerous reasons. 

First of all it assumes the majority of people are ignorant/incompetent, which they are not. A good dose of common sense, and a greater sense of community/purpose, can go a long way ... but this has been steadily displaced by a mix of self-interest and greed (modelled by current 'leaders').

Secondly, the research ignores the deep and corrosive influence of all those with vested interests who quietly wield power; from politicians, media tycoons, lobby groups, big business, bankers and landowners. Put these into the mix too and it becomes quickly clear that the vast majority of messages people currently receive are hardly unbiased (e.g. remember 'dangerous climate change' and 'weapons of mass destruction')!

Thirdly, the research assumes that what we now have can be called democracy! Most people in the UK are indeed ignorant/apathetic to how little influence their 'democratic system' actually affords them! People get to have 'a say' ... but only once every five years, and even then, around only 2% of votes actually count/make a difference as to who gains power (i.e. 'swing votes' in marginal constituencies).

Aristotle once said ...

"Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers"

"In a democracy the poor will have more power than the rich, because there are more of them, and the will of the majority is supreme"

Given the above, and the self-interest and greed (poweromics) being shown by those wielding power to stop this, it's clear that real democracy is still a long way off ... and will only arise if/when more people stand up for democracy ... 

Take a look at the planned changes to the NHS for instance. The Government are still trying to ignore all the opposition to its NHS bill (n.b. a bill that no-one voted for), from patient groups as well as all the healthcare experts!

The Government is attempting a 'divide and rule' strategy ... and deploying as much misleading PR/spin as it can. It also plans to deflect any blame from increased NHS rationing away from themselves ... and onto local GPs/consortium groups (and are trying desperately to bribe GP's to accept this ... with lots of cash)!

Their 'localism strategy' is being used as a smoke-screen for deflecting blame, to 'divide and rule' and to effectively remove the word 'NATIONAL' out of the National Health Service (NHS) ... creating a complete post code lottery for healthcare in the UK.

Scrapping waiting targets for treatments is also a way to force more people to pay in order to 'queue jump' ... as they will be treated by exactly the same NHS doctors and nurses (n.b. the health bill is seeking to ration healthcare provided free on the NHS, and at the same time allow existing NHS hospitals to use up to 49% of this 'freed up'/'spare capacity' to treat 'private patients')! 

People need to wake up and 'smell the coffee', and stand up and be counted ... or they will lose a vital/cherished service, a National Health Service set up to provide healthcare for all based on clinical need ... and not the ability to pay.

Dictat vs Democracy: Cameron and Lansley try and force through plans to destroy the NHS

The NHS reforms are now being exposed for what they are ... top-down dictat set to systematically destroy the NHS ... that no-one voted for and that no honorable / honest healthcare professional could ever support ...

Before entering office Cameron said his number one priority was the NHS, and that the NHS would be "safe in his hands". He also said he was "determined to put an end to top-down re-organisations".

Yet on entering office we find the complete opposite. Their plans (conceived and developed over many years by Lansley whilst in opposition) are in fact set to systematically destroy the NHS through the most callous, fundamental and profound top-down re-organisation embarked upon in recent UK history ... and prior to the creation of the NHS.

On encountering opposition to their reforms, Cameron announced a "pause" in the bill, "to listen" ... and said "for the reforms to succeed they would clearly need the support of healthcare professionals". Yet on initiating the "pause" it was clear this was nothing more than a PR stunt and that the real purpose was indeed not to listen, but to spend more time persuading! Cameron continually insisted that the problem was one of communication, and not the bill itself. Yet the most "callous" part of this so-called "pause" was not this, but that there was no actual pause at all - as in private Cameron told people to press-on quickly with the reforms (in particular GP commissioning) so they could argue that it was too late to turn back (which they have since repeatedly used). 

By not listening and pressing-on regardless, virtually every healthcare professional group has been forced to harden its position and to call for the bill to be scrapped. It is clear that even the majority of GP's oppose it now, with the minority of greedy GP's (who wanted to profit heavily by getting virtually the entire NHS budget into their own hands) being increasingly exposed (and sidelined) by the vast majority (due to the action of Democracy, as demonstrated by the Royal College of GP's).

And, instead of actually taking time to really listen to doctors and nurses now, Cameron and Lansley have decided to completely ignore them and try to force through their top-down re-organisation, inviting to meetings only those who will do what they say (i.e. Dictat) ... and push back against all those who get in their way ...

Will the UK continue to allow Dictat to crush Democracy ... let's see ... 

Poweromics, demonstrated by people such as Cameron and Lansley, must be challenged ... as Ignorance is not bliss ... and Apathy will kill ...


As another blogger put it ... "Putting the Tories in charge of the NHS is like re-employing Harold Shipman as your GP..."

Irony and Hypocrisy: Corrupt GP's saying the NHS 'in peril' if they are NOT given the money!

With key Royal Colleges and healthcare representatives expressing concern, and in most cases, outright opposition to the proposed NHS reforms, Andrew Lansley and David Cameron are under increasing pressure. 

No-one voted for these NHS reforms and Cameron stated at the last election that he was committed to putting a stop to top-down reforms! David Cameron also said that the NHS would be safe in his hands and that any reforms would need the support of the healthcare professionals, yet despite all these fine words he is still ploughing on despite their outright opposition!

Hypocrisy indeed!

And what is Lansley doing? ... well he clearly decided to call upon a few GP 'friends' to write to the Telegraph to say they back the reforms, with typically threatening rhetoric ... "The NHS will be 'in peril' if the Government's controversial health reforms are prevented from going ahead".

However the letter wasn't signed by any GP, but 56 GP's specifically setting up new commissioning groups who, under the bill, will effectively replace primary care trusts (PCTs) and be handed the almost entire NHS Budget £80bn to manage (and personally profit from)!

The cold reality is most GP's are actually not at the fore-front of healthcare, with many out of date in terms of knowledge, and acting more like money orientated businessmen than healthcare professionals, already pocketing 6 figure+ salaries ... and these 56 particular GP's are looking to take over virtually the entire NHS budget so they can get massive kick-backs, bungs and bonuses (e.g. from rationing healthcare, steering away from optimal clinical decisions and receiving share options/dividends) and in doing so, become Government made multi-millionaires at the expense of patients and taxpayers.

Last November the BMA moved to a position of total opposition to the Bill, and in the New Year the Royal College of Nurses and the Royal College of Midwives  followed suit. The Royal College of GPs is itself is deeply sceptical, although it's not publicly in total opposition yet (due to representations/lobbying from immoral/corrupt GP's like the ones who signed this letter), even though 90%+ are apparently in opposition (due to clear conflicts of interests between 'cashing in' and 'care').

Dr Clare Gerada, chair of the RCGPs, said: "GPs must understand their role in commissioning and we support the principle of greater clinician involvement. But many of our members feel that this could have been done in a less disruptive way by placing GPs on the boards of existing PCTs."

The Government, when it 'paused' to 'listen' to concerns, did not pause in its quest to abolish PCT's and the process of bribing corrupt GP's to ration and privatise healthcare. It therefore no surprise, given the stench of self-interest and personal gain, that these people are providing the only voice backing the reforms. 

Most healthcare professionals, royal colleges and professional bodies know exactly what the Government and these corrupt GP's are up to ... but are finding it difficult to say so publicly. When will one or more of these bodies finally spill the beans and make it completely clear to everyone what is actually going on ... as they certainly have a professional and moral obligation to do so, as ignorance is unfortunately not bliss, and any apathy on their part will almost certainly kill ... literally!

The reality is that the NHS is indeed 'in peril', but only if we give these people the money, not if we don't!

GP's 'rationing' healthcare already ... and they're not even being 'bonused' on it yet!

The number of patients being referred by their GP to see a hospital specialist has dropped by almost 5% over the past year, prompting fresh concern that access to care is being rationed as a direct result of the pressure on NHS finances.

GPs in England referred about 3.6 million patients for a first hospital consultation between April and July, according to data from the Department of Health (DoH). That was 4.7% fewer than the same period in 2010 – 3.8 million referrals.

The number of patients being seen by consultants after a GP's referral also fell during the same period, from 3.1 million last year to 2.9 million – a drop of 5.2%. The two sets of figures do not match because many patients remain on waiting lists.

The British Medical Association (BMA), the doctors' trade association, said that reductions in patients' access to healthcare were happening more often.

"The NHS is under a lot of pressure to do less, for example through referral management initiatives, which seem to be on the increase. These may save money but for every lost referral there is a patient who is not getting diagnosed or treated, and a hospital that is more likely to encounter financial problems," said a BMA spokesman.

John Healey, the shadow health secretary, also warned that some patients may be missing out on drugs, surgery or other treatment because of the falling number of referrals.

"While it is important to reduce demand for hospital care, patients will want reassuring that they are not being denied necessary treatment," he said. "These figures show the huge pressure on hospital finances at a time when David Cameron is wasting millions of pounds reorganising the NHS bureaucracy."

The NHS in England is struggling as its budget increase this year is just 0.1% – after a decade of big annual rises – while it seeks to save £20bn by 2015. The efficiency drive was ordered by the NHS's chief executive, Sir David Nicholson, in 2009, intending to free resources for the growing number of patients, especially elderly people, with long-term conditions such as cancer, diabetes and obesity. Nicholson has told the NHS several times not to limit services in order to meet the target.

GP's are not being 'bonused' to 'ration' healthcare yet but make no mistake ... plans for GP commissioning has this at its heart ... e.g. the less spent on patient care the more their consortium will profit ... and the more the consortium profits the more the GP's will receive in dividends (i.e. cash straight into their bank accounts) ... to compliment the multimillion pound windfall they'll also receive when they decide to sell off their 'stake' in their consortium. 

Conflict of interest? You bet! Government prepared to fix this fundamental flaw in the reforms plans? Absolutely not! The real reason for these reforms is cut the healthcare budget ... and 'rationing at source' (i.e. at the point where people might be diagnosed and/or referred) is the simplest and most effective way the Government see to do this ... but they know they'll have to 'bribe' the GP's to get them to do this!

Some GP's are clearly already 'signalling' their 'enthusiasm' and 'ability' to do this ... whilst others steadfastly refuse out of principle. What people fail to realise is that not only will they be rationing healthcare, these soon to be multi-millionaires will also be looting the NHS of the finance is desperately needs to spend on healthcare!

Hippocratic oath - or Hypocrasy ...?

When diagnosing patients in the future ... will patients believe and have trust in what their doctor says and recommends? ... or will that vital trust be broken ... with patients trusting them little more than politicians? **

Unsure ... well if you need more information in order to decide ... why don't you listen to what trustworthy and honorable GP's say ... and/or the latest news on GP's being caught charging the NHS for treating patients that don't exist ... or who died years ago!

** Age old saying: 

Question: "When do you know a politician is lying?"

Answer:   "When their lips are moving!"

"Weapons of mass destruction", "I pledge not to raise tuition fees", "I'll cut the deficit, not the NHS" ...

Lack of Opportunity and Lack of Responsibility

Riots flared up last week as thousands of people (mostly young people) took to the streets and looted shops. 

Young people currently face a plethora of challenges, e.g. double the rate of unemployment, the stopping of Education Maintenance Allowances (EMA) and the tripling of tuition fees ... and on getting older they face a lifetime of debt slavery and paying of their mountain of debt (now estimated to be around £60k due to the tripling of tuition fees) and crippling house prices too (due to Government policy and corrupt bankers). The truth is they have been completely let down by Government and given little opportunity or hope ... partly because they were seen as an 'easy target' in the cuts (as most of them do not have a vote and those that do rarely vote anyway)!

Yet there is no excuse for young people doing this. Rather than protesting directly to those responsible for creating this mess (i.e. the self interest and greed of the politicians/bankers), they have also shown their own ignorance and greed ... by destroying their own communities and looting shops instead! This inexcusable ignorance, shown by a small minority, in effect condones the self interest and greed of those who actually created this mess (i.e. the politicians and bankers).

They did not loot Libraries/Waterstones for knowledge ... and they did not loot farmers fields because they could not afford to eat either ... instead they looted JJB, Carphone Warehouse and Dixons for trainers, blackberry's and flat screen TV's! ... All organised using social media ... and their expensive Blackberry's and iPhones! Greed and self interest has in effect bred yet more greed and self interest, destroying communities in the process.

A lack of responsibility, by Government, parents and the 'politically correct', has in effect led to a lack of accountability and responsibility in a growing number of young children, who uncorrected by their parents and the system, want to do nothing ... but expect everything (nb playing computer games doesn't count*)! Rather than an outward looking, helpful and hardworking society, Government over the last 20-30 years has overseen the creation of an inward looking, selfish and lazy society ... where 'value' is determined by "what you have", not "who you are" or "what you do" ... 

"Greed is Good" and "Money for Nothing" have become mantras for many ... which is why rising house prices has become a national obsession (e.g. look at the number of house programmes on TV) ... and is why financial services, such as banking and insurance (who create money from nothing - they counterfeit it, charge interest on it, and gamble it) was seen as the future for Britain ... whilst manufacturing (i.e. people actually adding value and making things) was classed as too 'hard work', boring and irrelevant (nb look where Germany is now, having taken the opposite view ... despite having to prop up the Eurozone, and having already had to absorb the problems of East Germany and the collapse of the Berlin Wall too).

We need to heavily tax the creation of money from nothing (including gambling and counterfeiting by bankers) ... and provide tax incentives for creating jobs. We need an economics where "People taking responsibility for adding value and continuously improving the situation for others (e.g. customers, communities, overall environment), based upon fundamental values such as trust, honor, responsibility and respect".

And we need to turn around the accountability and responsibility of young people, parents and 'leaders' (including politicians). Young people should be held accountable for their actions, and parents for their children. Politicians need to also be held accountable for their failure to reward the values any civilized society needs to be founded upon ... namely Trust, Honor, Responsibility and Respect. They should also reward 'People taking responsibility for adding value and continuously improving the situation for others', and heavily tax/outlaw those things that do not or do the opposite (which includes most of the practices of banks, insurers and parasitic no-win-no fee lawyers).

The Government are desperately trying to deflect blame onto Gangs and are calling in an ex-New York Police Chief to sort it out ... but the failure is a mixture of ignorance, a lack of morality, responsibility and social justice (nb the gap between the rich and poor has spiraled in the last 20-30 years). 

The current Government is deliberately dividing society, rather than bring it together, and trying to stop society turning its gaze on their immoral actions ... e.g. whilst all this is going on, George Osborne is looking to follow Boris Johnson and his call to cut the top rate of tax for the rich (which will make the gap between rich and poor even greater), whilst increasing taxes and cutting services for the young and poor! 

They both claim this is needed to 'boost' the economy - what a joke! ... the rich simply use their money to accumulate more money (e.g. by buying up and then renting houses, excluding young people from home ownership)! If they really wanted to boost the economy they would invest in young people and the future and providing tax incentives for job creation, not tax cuts for the rich! He would also boost tax revenues by taxing areas that generate 'money for nothing' too (e.g. land values, housing speculation, investment banking and insurance). 

Unfortunately ignorance is not bliss, and as seen last week, ignorance can result in actions that are totally misguided and counterproductive! Unrest will unfortunately continue to grow whilst power is unbalanced and self-interest and greed remain acceptable mantras in society** ... and for things to change for the better, looters need to be replaced by serious, responsible, and organized protesters, who are keen to see justice, trust, honor, responsibility and respect ... not just in society ... but from their 'leaders'.

* Many young people are today immersed in computer games, including 18 rated ones such as Grand Theft Auto, which involves them stealing, killing,  rioting and looting! Such games must make it harder for them to distinguish between good and bad, right and wrong, fiction and reality ... when doing all the wrong things is 'rewarded'!

** Cameron's comments about holding people to account, and fixing the morality in society, are I'm afraid mostly smoke and mirrors and spin (from an ex PR spin doctor) ... because the courts are doing very little in terms of sentencing, and his chancellor has yet again shown they are continuing with their plans to raid the poor for the benefit of the rich. Just like the NHS, Cameron/Osborne will try to push ahead quickly ... before any subsequent review is completed (just like he did with GP commissioning)!

They didn't pause ... and they didn't listen

Anyone with any real desire/ability to question, will have known all along that the NHS 'listening exercise' was going to be no more than a smoke-screen ... as at the heart of the NHS reforms lies a fundamental strategy to save money (over £20bn in fact) by bribing GP's to ration healthcare ... 

And the reason for this is simple and clear to see - if you want to slash costs in the NHS then the best place to do this is in the GP's surgery, i.e. before GP's recommend / suggest any kind of medicine/treatment to a patient! 

Creating a situation where GP's can profit heavily from not recommending treatment creates a fundamental conflict of interest ... not in the interests of patients, but very much in the interests of their personal, and already inflated, bank balances (nb we already have some of the most highly paid doctors in the World)!

Such a situation clearly conflicts with their duty of care, as well as the hippocratic oath they take, but most people now go into medicine not to 'help people' ... but to make a 'shed-load of money'!

Under attack from the public as well as all the professionals involved in the NHS (nb even from the open, honest and honorable GP's who would themselves profit financially from such reforms), the Government decided to 'pause' and 'listen'. However the Government spent most of their time telling/persuading, and quietly pushing ahead with plans to give GP's responsibility for commissioning (nb and profiting from rationalising healthcare).

The Government also set up a group to run a 'listening exercise',  but they made sure from the very outset that rewarding GP's (for rationing healthcare) was not going to be put at risk ... and doing this was easy - they just selected the 'right person' to  'lead it" ... i.e. Steve Field, a practising GP, and previously the head of the Royal College of GP's!

So why didn't they pick a person with no vested interests to lead the 'listening exercise' ... too much of a risk ... pretty obvious really! 

Government still want to reward GP's for rationing healthcare

Before entering office David Cameron said the NHS was safe in his hands and promised to put an end to top-down reforms. Yet on entering office, his Government immediately embarked upon radical top-down reforms of the NHS, which no-one knew about and no-one voted for. 

The reforms contain fundamental conflicts of interest and put the future of the NHS at risk, prompting opposition and anger from the public as well as every professional healthcare group (e.g. the BMA, the Royal College of Nursing, Royal College of Surgeons ...).  

So Cameron said the Government would embark on a 'listening exercise", but in reality the Government listened very little (but talked a lot) and continued to quietly press ahead with GP commissioning (so there could deliberately be no turning back in this part of the plan)!

David Cameron has now given five pledges about reforming the NHS, but they are most noted for their omissions rather than what they include ... as there is no plan to stop GP's from profiteering from rationing healthcare ... i.e. the most blatant conflict of interest.  

GP's have shown themselves to be more than happy to profiteer from NHS changes in the past ... and many are looking to these reforms to provide the biggest opportunity yet ... e.g. by profiteering from bonuses (and shares in commissioning companies) for rationing healthcare to patients, as well as  being able to commission work to themselves or to companies they have interest in (e.g. shares, directorships).

David Cameron is making 'pledges' in many areas, but they are clearly not going to change the strategy of bribing GP's in order to ration healthcare - as this is the way that the Government plans to make £20bn of savings in the NHS ... and when you take out the additional profiteering from GP's, the real decrease in actual healthcare spending is going to be much more!




NB The Government are also still toying with imposing more competition from private health companies, and they're still looking to scrap their legal duty to provide the same level of healthcare to everyone wherever they live too! Which also go to show that the "listening exercise" was nothing of the sort, and that Cameron's 'pledges' are also not worth the paper they are written on ...

No to GP commissioning ... to ensure good decisions and to avoid conflicts of interest

MP's are heaping yet more pressure on the government now by suggesting GPs should not be allowed to take control of the budget all by themselves - take a look at this article in the Telegraph for instance.

The House of Commons' health committee said they should be joined by a range of staff including nurses and hospital doctors to decide how funds are spent.

The move would improve accountability and decision-making, with the MPs stating that the sole focus on family doctors involved in GP consortia is wrong.

Instead, they said the GP consortia should be re-named NHS commissioning authorities and be overseen by a board with representatives from other specialities.

"The expertise of other professionals was essential to ensure the best decisions were taken and to avoid conflicts of interest".

The MP's in the Health Committee are pointing out the obvious ... e.g. the need "to avoid conflicts of interest" ... Public health vs GP profits (from rationing healthcare).

NB their suggestion will not solve this problem entirely ... as a GP's decision to refer a person for treatment is taken in their head ... so most of the time people won't know whether their GP has rationed their care or not! Hence GP's should not be allowed to profit from decisions they make in any other way! NB if you think all GP's are honorable and trustworthy, just remember how they took the taxpayer to the cleaners the last time they re-negotiated their contracts (whilst dumping out of hours cover) ... which was unfortunately down to the incompetence of the last Government too!*

Let's see if the current Government, who said yesterday that they are 'pausing to listen', actually 'listen' ... or whether they're just trying to avoid a total massacre in the forthcoming local elections (before pressing on regardless).

* NB I raised this issue on Question Time at the time these changes were being pushed through, and a fellow blogger made the following point about a GP's recent comments on Question Time too. 

"In a recent BBC Question Time programme a GP from the area from which the programme was being broadcast stated that he was aware of a conspiracy amongst certain GP's to loot the NHS budget for their own financial interest, which, in his view would be detrimental to patient care".

Another honest and trustworthy GP "spilling the beans" and the public ignore this at their peril - as ignorance blinds ... but apathy kills!