6 March 2012
Response to Lord Crisp’s Letter on the Health and Social Care Bill
RCGP Chair Dr Clare Gerada has responded to Lord Crisp's letter to the Times newspaper on the Health and Social Care Bill.
Dr Gerada said:
Lord Crisp’s letter resonates with so much of what the Royal College of General Practitioners has said about the damaging implications of the Health and Social Care Bill.
His call for our political leaders to stop using the NHS as a political football, and set up a process involving patients, the public, the voluntary, private and public sectors to agree the future direction of health and social care echoes closely our own belief – that what we need is a sensible debate about the future of the NHS; what it should be able to provide and how it should be funded.
While the College’s position has not changed, and we believe that the Bill must be withdrawn entirely to ensure the stability of the NHS, and the continued ability to provide high-quality care to our patients, we welcome this sensible position from Lord Crisp. As a former NHS Chief Executive and DH Permanent Secretary, he knows from first-hand experience about the many successes of the NHS, and the challenges faced by health professionals in driving up standards of patient care in an ever more complex arena.
We’ve long said that we want a clinically led, clinically managed health service, and welcomed the Bill’s commitment to placing GPs at the heart of decision-making. We welcomed the Bill’s focus on health inequalities. However, this can all be achieved without the need for cumbersome, top down legislative change, and the time has come for the Government to listen to the many, many voices calling for reason.
Professionals across the health sector need to work find ways of addressing the health and social care problems facing us now, and in the future. A competitive healthcare market will not bring about the continual improvement the NHS needs; we must find ways to collaborate, working across professions to integrate care, and provide a truly joined up health service.
It is not too late for this destructive, confusing Bill to be brought to a halt, to stabilise the NHS and to restate its founding principles – for the good of our health service, and for the good of our patients.
Further information
RCGP Press office: 020 3188 7576/7575/7574
Out of Hours Duty Press Officer: 020 3188 7659
press@rcgp.org.uk
Notes:
The Royal College of General Practitioners is a network of more than 44,000 family doctors working to improve care for patients. We work to encourage and maintain the highest standards of general medical practice and act as the voice of GPs on education, training, research and clinical standards.