King’s Fund say reorganisation of NHS disastrous

Leading analysts have said that overhauls to the organisation of the NHS have been “disastrous” and have “distracted” from patient care.

The findings by the King’s Fund think tank have said that changes made by the current coalition government have failed patients, wasted three years, left a strategic vacuum and caused financial distress.

The changes, which came into force two years ago, terminated several NHS organisations, the intention being to move the balance of power to allow GPs more say in budget spending.

During the reorganisation, the 10 regional strategic health authorities and all 151 primary care trusts were eradicated, with new clinical commissioning groups set up in local areas, which, according to the findings, have left a “strategic vacuum” in some areas.

Chris Ham, chief executive of the King’s Find, said “People in the NHS focused on rearranging the deckchairs rather than the core business of improving patient care.

“That’s contributed to the increasing waiting times and declining performance that patients are experiencing.”

The report did say that since 2013, the focus has shifted rightly to quality of care and the improvement of patient safety, as well as aiming to treat more patients at home instead of hospital.

A spokesperson for Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, said “We welcome the King’s Fund’s recognition that the government’s focus on patient safety and integrated care is right for the NHS’s future.

“This independent assessment also puts paid to Ed Milliband’s myth that the reforms were about privatisation, and highlights why both the public and the health sector should be wary of Labour’s plans for upheaval and reorganisation.”

Dr Mark Porter, head of the British Medical Association, said that the changes were “opposed by patients, the public and NHS staff, but politicians pushed through the changes regardless.”

He went on to say “This report highlights the damage that has been done to the health service and the major shortcomings of the Act, which distracted attention from rising pressure on services and cost billions to introduce.

“The damage done to the NHS has been profound and intense, but what is needed now is an honest and frank debate over how we can put right what has gone wrong without the need for another unnecessary and costly top-down reorganisation.”

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Posted by Karen Motley, Paralegal, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (karenmotley@chadlaw.co.uk ), Medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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