And Your Point Is?

Andrew Lansley presents the Health and Social Care Bill on Wednesday for its Second Reading. Rather than the usual questions on the level of funding or the degree of tax burden, the main question for this Bill is, "what exactly is it for?"

Although there is naturally some disconnect between GPs and Health Trusts in assessing any particular patient's needs, it seems small reason, indeed, to turn the whole health service upside down to make the GPs the drivers of nearly all decision-making. When Lansley has found time to try and explain his 'philosophy' such as it is, he immediately get aggressive and demands, "do you not trust your GP to make the right decisions about your health?"

The answer is simply 'no'. Not unless he has particular expertise in project management and accountancy. Last time I looked they weren't modules at medical school.

The NHS Federation has also queried the lack of "a compelleing story why the reforms are necessary" and assessed them as "extraordinarily risky". Just how risky, you may ask? Well, of course those hard-pressed officials at DH have been scratching over the figures and projections and analysing the likeliness of success.

Labour Health Minitser, John Healey wondered why these considerations had not been shared with Parliament, as is the tradition. A blank response from Ministers elicited an FOI request. The Coalition which decried the previous Government's lack of transparency actually refused the request on the grounds to do so would interfere with officials "space in which to develop thinking.. and may deter candid discussion in the future. "

Ministers would have a point if the question was to give a verbatim account of all meetings with senior officials. But it wasn't. I guess they just didn't dig what the results were. Healey called this Soviet style secrecy "disgraceful" as their plans for the NHS "affect the lives of everyone in England". So it would seem the next big plan is unclear in purpose, hard to discern whether it is worthwhile and they won't tell us when we ask.