29th January 2004
Leaked
NHS Memo Exposes Yet Another Consultation Con
Yet
another NHS consultation process is today in tatters after a leaked memo exposed
a Health Board’s plan to bypass public opinion and centralise all inpatient
gynaecological services at the Royal Alexandria Hospital (RAH) in Paisley.
MSP
for Greenock and Inverclyde, Duncan McNeil, says the plans – drawn up by NHS
Argyll and Clyde – “confirms how decisions about our NHS are really being
taken. Not on the basis of what’s best for patients.
Not on the basis of what’s best for our communities.
But on the basis of what best suits senior consultants.”
The
revelations come after the flawed consultation which preceded the Health
Board’s deeply unpopular decision to centralise all consultant-led maternity
services at the RAH and against a backdrop of campaigners throughout Scotland
questioning the validity of similar NHS consultation exercises.
The
report, which is dominated by the interests of professionals:
Meanwhile,
the Health Board maintains it is carrying out a review of clinical services
which is supposed to be subject to public consultation and input from May to
October this year. “We will be
doing this in partnership with staff, patients and public and we want to hear
your views and ideas,” claims the Board’s website.
Mr
McNeil said today that prejudging the review process in this way had “exposed
the consultation process as somewhere between worthless and fraudulent.”
He
continued:
“I
am disappointed at this document, but not particularly surprised.
I repeatedly warned that this situation would be inevitable if we started
down the centralisation road. But,
last July, when I exposed secret Health Board documents revealing the severe
projected impact of centralising inpatient gynaecological services, my concerns
were dismissed.
“It
gives me no comfort to say that I have been proved correct.
“This
report confirms that centralising services at Paisley will reduce access,
increase travel time and increase waiting times.
But that doesn’t seem to matter, so long as we keep the consultants
happy.
“It
also exposes yet another NHS consultation as a sham.
The Board,
its website gushes, is supposed to be embarking
upon a clinical review ‘in partnership with staff, patients and
public.’
We now know that this is simply untrue – how can they consult on plans
over the summer when they are threatening the collapse of the service at the end
of March?
“This
is a case study in how decisions in the NHS are really being made. Despite
the RAH already bursting at the seams, despite the impact on patient care, they
are determined to centralise services there.
It seems that the new consultant contract, which increases top
consultants’ pay from £70,000 to £88,000 a year in return for greater
flexibility, has failed the first test in Argyll and Clyde.
“If
Health Boards like Argyll and Clyde want to rebuild the bond of trust between
themselves and the communities they serve, they need to take the ‘con’ out
of their consultations.”
ENDS
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