Blogs and Briefings
Industry opposition bad for Government’s health
As Peers vote to pass the controversial Health and Social Care Bill at Second Reading in the House of Lords, Steve Barwick thinks the Government should be concerned about the alliance of opposition to their plans.
13 October 2011
Back in 2003, Connect supported an alliance of interests, including Unison and ACHEW, who opposed the introduction of Foundation Trusts. The small number of organisations that opposed that Bill is now stark in comparison to the number in opposition to the Health and Social Care Bill – not just the Labour frontbenches and the hundred or so Peers who spoke in the Lords’ debate, but clinicians and health workers - from porters to managers including the BMA, Royal Colleges, Unison and Managers in Partnership.
The spread of anxiety and depth of opposition is far greater than the criticism of any Blair/Brown initiative I can recall. Even their most unpopular policies such as independent (private) treatment centres, the first wave of school academies, or the initial introduction of tuition fees seem piecemeal and moderate by comparison. On all occasions at least they managed to carry most of the ‘inside’ institutions with them.
There is a striking difference between then and now. Not only is there public opposition, but those who will have to implement the legislation are against it. With the Coalition barely 18 months old, such an alliance in opposition on an issue is not unique, demonstrated by the significant concerns expressed around reforms to education (EMA/tuition fees) and police (elected commissioners). It is the Health and Social Care Bill, though, which is the issue that the public, and certainly the media, have taken most seriously. The Government’s wholesale approach to major NHS reforms has not helped.
Given the Government’s own risk assessment, the Bill is likely to fail to deliver what is promised in terms of saving money and increased clinical effectiveness and instead is just as likely to create an almighty NHS 'mess': insolvency, inequality, higher transaction costs and worse patient outcomes.
