Aneurin Bevan (above) said of the NHS: "It will survive as long as there are folk left with the faith to fight for it".
Shadow Health Secretary, Andy Burnham's email dated 24th Nov is running with two petitions - Labour’s "Drop the Bill" and local GP Dr Kailash Chand's "Calls on the Government to drop its Health and Social Care Bill."
Andy Burham says that "In the last few days we have had a major breakthrough - a local GP, Dr Kailash Chand has set up a Government e-petition calling on the Government to drop the Bill.
This is a great opportunity for us to pile the pressure on the Government, and so I want to ask a favour from you. I am asking all people who have signed the Drop the Bill petition to sign the Government e-petition as well. In addition, I am asking you to try to get four of your friends, family and colleagues to sign both petitions as well. We got 20,000 signatures in just a few days on Labour's petition - let's get 100,000 people to sign the Government e-petition."
By my calculations - as of today Dr Kailash Chand e-petition stands at nearly thirteen thousand...so over approx one thousand signatures per day it should take Dec, Jan and Feb to reach the total and maybe force a debate in the House of Commons.
An article by Allyson Pollock again highlights what a disaster privatising the NHS will be. He states - "The private sector providers too will have extraordinary new rights. The right to fair and equal treatment will no longer be for patients but for the benefit of investors, who will use competition policy and trade law to demand a right of entry and a right to ensure that their services can continue to operate profitably."
And to reinforce the message privatising the NHS is ongoing process happening now - please see the NHS Cuts Route Finder here .
And finally looking for inspiration from James Keir Hardie between 1895 and 1900 he worked to persuade the unions to back the ILP. The future can be found in history books...
"The unity of the working class is the one thing that matters. That can never be a thing of rapid growth. Abstract theories with them count for very little… Socialism supplies the vision and a united working class satisfies the senses as a practical method of attaining its realisation. To attain that unity is, and must be, the first object of all who desire Socialism." (p.4, Francis Johnson, ILP, 1922).
FROM JON WILLIAMS
ReplyDeleteReading through the details it seems CCGs (Clinical Commissioning Groups) will be similar if not the same as PCTs! This begs the question why there needs to be a change. When words such as "management fee" are introduced into NHS language it should be ringing alarm bells. Whether £25 per head is a reasonable amount and how this figure has been calculated isn't stated. It is also states they will be seeking a substantial increase...again are these people accountable to voters and open to scrutiny?
http://www.keepournhspublic.com/newsroundup.php
"GP leaders call for commissioning groups to cover more than a million patients.
The GPC (General Practice Committee) and RCGP (Royal College of General Practitioners) have called for a wholesale restructure of clinical commissioning groups across the country, with mergers to ensure all groups cover a population of between one and five million patients, in a bid to prevent GPs 'losing the power to commission independently'. The move marks a dramatic shift in policy for the GPC, which had previously urged CCGs (Clinical Commissioning Groups) to have a minimum population of 500,000, and is now calling for ‘PCT cluster-sized' federations of CCGs with a shared governance structure.
The GPC said the move was necessary to prevent smaller CCGs becoming 'dependant on external support'. The NHS Operating Framework recently gave SHA clusters until March 2012 to ensure that ‘any outstanding configuration issues' are ‘resolved, meaning GP leaders are effectively urging CCGs to merge within the next three months. GPC deputy chair Dr Richard Vautrey joined RCGP chair Dr Clare Gerada at Pulse's commissioning roundtable this week in calling for the change, which they argue is required to give CCGs a fighting chance in the new NHS given the recent announcement of a £25 per head management fee for commissioning groups.
Dr Gerada said: ‘One to five million population…is the only way. Then you can start to have sensible people on your commissioning, then you can start to have population base, you can start to be employing the right people.' When asked whether he agreed with Dr Gerada's summation, Dr Vautrey said: ‘Absolutely. The reality is that CCGs, if they are serious about having any influence at all in the new world, need to coalesce into structures that are equivalent to the old PCT clusters that are there at the moment.' Dr Buckman writes in the letter: ‘Adequate funding is essential to allow the CCG to be able to function effectively. We do not consider the proposed £25 per head to be sufficient and will be seeking a substantial increase in that sum.' ‘We have previously advised that CCGs should have a minimum population of 500,000, but with strong local structures to ensure they can be truly representative and sensitive to local needs.'
‘However, in the light of the current proposals, we are now recommending that CCGs should be proactive and come together to form a CCG of PCT or even PCT cluster size. It would be big enough to employ its own staff with the necessary skills and expertise to be an effective commissioning body. Staff would work for the smaller sub-groups, (the current CCGs), ensuring they were both protected and empowered within the devolved federation of the larger group."
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And from an ex New Labour MP - Allan Milburn states "opposing NHS competition is an error of judgement" - which confirms Andy Burnham's current policy direction is correct and a mistake to introduce Foundation Hosiptals in 2002.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/dec/12/labour-nhs-competition-alan-milburn?newsfeed=true