"Worse than vermin" @ No 10

Arturo laughed out loud and pointed at his laptop screen! "That 'Silly Ass' Lansley is losing it - big time! He's sees himself as being in a similar plight to Nye Bevan!! Can you believe that?"

I peered at the screen and an article, written by Jeremy Laurance, in the Independent. It reported a speech given by 'Silly Ass' Lansley:

... the Health Secretary accused his critics of spreading "lies" about the reforms and suggested that change in the NHS had always been opposed because it was "hard".
"Look back to 1948 when the British Medical Association denounced Aneurin Bevan as 'a would-be Führer' for wanting them to join a National Health Service. And Bevan himself described the BMA as 'politically poisoned people'. A survey at the time showed only 10 per cent of doctors backed the plans ... but where would we be today if my predecessors had caved in," Mr Lansley said in a speech in Liverpool.

Does he really compare himself to Bevan? I could not believe my eyes!

Jeremy Laurance reported that a source at a meeting held by the medical royal colleges had said:

"Ministers have been busy ringing college presidents – a lot of conversations have been had in the last 24 hours. It was felt that while those conversations were continuing it was not appropriate to say anything. These are shifting sands."

The source also reported that:

Anxiety about the Bill extends across the medical and political spectrum and is focused on the impact of increased competition, privatisation and the ability of the NHS to make £20bn efficiency savings by 2014.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/lansley-tells-bma-stop-spreading-lies-about-my-health-reform-bill-6295399.html

I see! It seems it is legitimate for Ministers to do some 'ringing'! One has to wonder what was said and to whom?

There are certain people who will be in the vanguard of implementing any of the proposed changes to the NHS. They are the General Practitioners and the Nurses. Now, 'Silly Ass' Lansley, let's do a tally of their views, shall we?

The Royal College of General Practitioners is opposed to much of the Bill. In a recent survey of its members' views on the Health and Social Care Bill, the following results were found:

More than 50 per cent (987 respondents) said that the reforms would increase the involvement of the private sector
More than 43 per cent (828 respondents) said that they strongly disagreed that they would reduce bureaucracy in the NHS
Only 4 per cent (75 respondents) agreed that the reforms would result in better care for patients
More than 93 per cent of respondents said that they did not feel reassured by Government’s response

In addition,

When asked whether they personally wished to be involved on the board of a clinical commissioning group, almost 70% of respondents said that they did not.

http://www.rcgp.org.uk/news/press_releases_and_statements/latest_on_health_bill.aspx

The Royal College of Nursing is opposed to much of the Bill and issued the following statement:

The RCN has engaged with the Government at every stage of the
NHS reform process since it was first announced in 2010.

The RCN has clearly and consistently set out which areas of the Bill must be changed, not as a matter of self interest, but to guarantee patient care and to retain the NHS as a national institution providing high quality care, free at the point of need.

Due to the Government’s refusal to concede on sufficient points, and the risk we believe the legislation poses to patient care, the RCN is now moving to a position where we oppose the Health and Social Care Bill.

http://www.rcn.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/426909/Why_the_RCN_is_opposing_the_Health_and_Social_Care_Bill.pdf

Wow! 'Silly Ass' Lansley - you've got real problems, haven't you?

Laurance's article in the Independent also stated:

The Health Select Committee warned on Tuesday that the reforms were a "distraction" and the NHS Confederation, representing NHS trusts, said the NHS was "sleepwalking into serious difficulties." The BMA, RCN and RCM initially signalled their intention to work with ministers on the Bill, but last week switched to outright opposition.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/lansley-tells-bma-stop-spreading-lies-about-my-health-reform-bill-6295399.html

So! The NHS is "sleepwalking into serious difficulties". Surely, Lansley cannot continue to push the Bill forward against all this opposition from health professionals! Even the politicians on the Health Select Committee, chaired by a former Tory Health Secretary, have expressed their serious concerns about the situation.

In these circumstances, it's unfortunate, to say the least, that some of the more contentious parts of this proposed legislation seem to have been implemented already . Shouldn't there be a judicial review about this?

Maybe, 'Silly Ass' Lansley would be wise to recollect what a Dictator said in the course of addressing his National Congress when the country was in a parlous state:

"Today, we stand on the edge of an abyss. Tomorrow, we shall take one step forwards!"

"Step back, Lansley! Step back - not forwards!" Arturo said loudly.

There is one more message that Arturo asked me to pass on to 'Silly Ass' Lansley. He is delighted that Lansley has such admiration for Nye Bevan. However, Lansley should remember that Bevan had no regard for Conservative politicians. He called them "worse than vermin".

As for Arturo and me, we're sneaking into the kitchen to get some tasty scraps. Don't fancy 'vermin' tonight!

'Bye'