With the end of the "listening period", the impending publication of the full report of the NHS Futures Forum and the Government's commitment to amend the Bill, there is an eerie pause. It is rumoured that parts of the Bill will return to committee in the House of Commons between 28\06 & 14/07. The remit is the areas of change from original bill. Labour are apparently still trying to push for the whole Bill to go back to Committee. The Bill will then go to the Lords after the summer recess.
At our meeting on 13th June, we agreed that although an amended Bill may not be as obviously life threatening to the NHS as the original version, there is every likelihood that that fudged wording will enable a lot of Lansley's original agenda to go through. Also it seems to be increasingly obvious that many of the changes don't actually make much practical sense on the ground - the whole thing is becoming infinitely more complex than the PCT system we have now, and seems likely to grind to a halt. Apart from anything else the argument that trying to reorganise from root to branch while imposing heavy cuts (efficiency or otherwise) is a recipe for disaster. The battle to save the NHS is not over, and the biggest danger may be if Lib Dems (especially) want to congratulate themselves on securing amendments, and let the Bill slide through.
The Bill must be scrapped, not amended.
There are a host of comments available and bloggers might want to contribute the links they find most helpful. Wendy Savage's latest comments are at
http://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/wendy-savage/saving-nhs-fight-goes-on . See also
http://falseeconomy.org.uk/blog/lansley-clings-on-to-nhs-any-qualified-provider-policy-but-its-in-a-mess
We need to ensure that the Bill is kept in the news by continuing active protest, exposing its growing contradictions and dangers and keeping up pressure on MPs. Keep up with the 38 degrees campaign, keep writing to the papers, contribute to radio through phone-ins - etc etc. Come to our meetings and actions.
We are a grassroots movement comprising people from all walks of life who are, or will be affected by the government’s austerity measures and spending cuts to NHS Services across England. We also strongly oppose the creeping privatisation of the NHS by successive governments. Privatisation = Profit not Good Patient Care
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