The British Medical Association (BMA) has voted to call on the government to scrap its plans for overhauling the NHS, heaping further pressure on Health Secretary Andrew Lansley. At an emergency meeting attended by almost 400 doctors, members backed a motion urging the withdrawal of the Health and Social Care Bill and a halt to the proposed top-down reorganisation of the health service.
The reforms would abolish more than 150 organisations and move 80% of the NHS budget into the hands of GPs. Doctors argued that the plans have no electoral mandate, as they were not included in the manifestos of either the Conservatives or the Liberal Democrats. The vote follows the Liberal Democrats' rejection of the shake-up at their spring conference, where members described the reforms as damaging and unjustified.
BMA chairman Dr Hamish Meldrum warned that the changes could have irreversible consequences and would damage patient care. He said the government's proposals were driven by ideology rather than evidence, adding: "It's the reality not the rhetoric that counts, and it's the reality that is causing all the problems." Doctors also accused Mr Lansley of using inaccurate and misleading information to denigrate the NHS, including by comparing UK cancer and heart disease rates unfavourably with those in Europe.
The reforms face strong opposition from other unions, including Unite and the Royal College of Nursing. Labour has tabled amendments to the bill designed to protect the NHS from a full-blown competitive market. Shadow health secretary John Healey said the amendments would strike out proposals allowing regulator Monitor to apply the full force of competition law to NHS contracts, which could impose fines of up to 10% of turnover for anti-competitive practices.
Mr Healey predicted that private firms would use the measures to mount persistent challenges to deals struck by GP consortiums to commission services from local hospitals or hospices. He accused Mr Lansley of keeping quiet about the implications of the competition measures and challenged him to "stand up and defend these changes". Labour has called an Opposition Day debate on the issue in the House of Commons tomorrow.
