News From The Web

Government defeat in House of Lords over Health Bill

BBC Health - 9th February 2012 3:48 pm

The government has lost a House of Lords vote on its controversial plans to overhaul the NHS in England.

Peers backed an amendment to the Health and Social Care Bill - demanding mental health is made a higher priority - by a margin of four votes.

The legislation is opposed by Labour and has come under fire from several Liberal Democrat and independent peers, meaning it could have a difficult time getting through Parliament.

The government has offered more than 100 concessions in an effort to get the bill passed, but opponents say it should be dropped in its entirety.

Several peers from across the political spectrum have proposed their own amendments. The first of those debated on Wednesday - demanding that the health secretary ensures that mental health care is treated as importantly as physical health care by the NHS - was put forward by Labour’s Lord Patel, and passed by a by 244 votes to 240.

Three Liberal Democrats - Lord Alliance, Lord Carlile of Berriew and Baroness Tonge - rebelled against the government.

Prime Minister rebuffs Labour calls to drop NHS Bill

BBC Health - 8th February 2012 2:25 pm

David Cameron has rebuffed calls from Labour to axe controversial plans to overhaul the NHS in England.

Labour leader Ed Miliband told him he had broken promises and “every day he fights for this bill, every day trust in him on the NHS ebbs away”.

But the PM said Labour’s opposition was more about propping up Mr Miliband’s leadership than NHS reform.

The Bill returns to the Lords later, amid a row over proposals to let hospitals raise more money privately.

BMA demands pension talks after Lansley meeting

GP - 11:45 am

The BMA has launched a petition demanding meaningful talks after a meeting between the union and health secretary Andrew Lansley last week failed to break the deadlock on pension reforms.

The petition, which should go live later this week, calls on the government to re-open meaningful talks with health unions.

BMA chairman, Dr Hamish Meldrum, said of the talks: ‘Lines of communication are open but the government has not yet shown a willingness to find a meaningful way of reaching a fairer offer.

Backers of NHS reform turn against Lansley’s plans

The Guardian - 7th February 2012 12:28 pm

Two prominent backers of the coalition’s NHS shake-up have joined the growing chorus of critics by claiming that GPs will be “suffocated rather than liberated” by the planned changes.

Dr Charles Alessi and Dr Michael Dixon have helped Andrew Lansley claim credibility for his plans among doctors over the past 18 months by strongly supporting his radical restructuring. They are leading lights in the NHS Alliance and the National Association of Primary Care, two key pro-reform organisations.

But they now fear that the new consortiums of local doctors, which will start commissioning healthcare for patients in England from next year, will not have the freedom that the health secretary has repeatedly pledged. Lansley has attempted to persuade sceptics that his reorganisation will put family doctors in charge of healthcare.

Seven NHS trusts to get access to a bailout fund

BBC Health - 5th February 2012 3:37 pm

Seven English NHS hospital trusts with debts caused, in part, by private finance initiative repayments are to have access to a £1.5bn government bailout fund, it has been announced.

The subsidy will be available over the course of 25-year long contracts.

Trusts will have to show they have improved efficiency and provide good care in order to access the money.

The seven trusts are: Barking, Havering and Redbridge, St Helens and Knowsley, South London, Peterborough and Stamford, North Cumbria, Dartford and Gravesham and Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells.

RCGP demands withdrawal of Health Bill in PM letter

GP - 3rd February 2012 4:44 pm

The RCGP has written to prime minister David Cameron demanding the complete withdrawal of the Health Bill.

In a letter to the prime minister, the college warned that it fears the Bill “will cause irreparable damage to patient care and jeopardise the NHS”.

After amendments to the Bill announced this week in the House of Lords, RCGP leaders went over the head of health secretary Andrew Lansley, voicing concerns directly to Downing Street.

GMC reviews test for non-EU overseas doctors

GP - 1st February 2012 6:02 pm

The GMC is reviewing the way it tests doctors from overseas but not EU countries who want to register in the UK.

The regulator will review the Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board (PLAB) test, which doctors qualified outside of the UK and EU currently have to undergo before they join the UK medical register.

NHS panel defines rules for rationing decisions

GP - 31st January 2012 11:25 am

Cataract surgery, knee replacement and other ‘low clinical value’ treatments must only be restricted on the basis of strict evidence-based criteria, an NHS panel has warned.

Inconsistency in access to ‘low clinical value’ treatments leads to postcode lotteries, the Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention Right Care Team said.

Most PCTs now have lists restricting ‘non-urgent’ or ‘low clinical value’ treatments, such as knee replacement and cataract and bariatric surgery.

The Right Care Team was commissioned by NHS medical director Professor Sir Bruce Keogh to determine how the clinical value of such treatments should be decided.

“Health Bill fight mirrors Bevan’s bid to start NHS”

GP - 30th January 2012 11:13 am

Health secretary Andrew Lansley has compared his bid to force through NHS reforms in the face of growing opposition to Aneurin Bevan’s efforts to establish the NHS in 1948.

His comments drew a furious response from BMA chairman Dr Hamish Meldrum, who hit out at Mr Lansley’s “inflammatory remarks” and urged him to listen to warnings about the NHS reforms.

In a speech on Thursday, Mr Lansley rejected calls for the Health Bill to be withdrawn. He said: “Look back to 1948 when the BMA 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% of doctors backed the plans. But where we would be today if my predecessors had caved in?”

GMC to review private health perk for employees

Pulse - 27th January 2012 8:16 pm

The GMC is to review its controversial policy of offering staff private medical insurance this year, as the regulator seeks ‘efficiency gains’ that would allow it to offer further cuts to GP fees in 2013 and 2014.

The GMC’s resources committee is to look specifically at the GMC’s policy of offering full-time staff private medical insurance in 2012, after an outcry from GPs over the £280,000 spent on the staff perk.

Alongside routine reviews of staff pay and other benefits such as maternity cover, the GMC said it is looking for ‘further efficiency gains’ that would allow it to make further reductions in its fees.