In a recent announcement Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley warns, “The very existence of the NHS will be placed under threat unless it is reformed.”

It is understood Mr Lansley will blame “almost insatiable” public expectations as well as other factors such as an ageing population and the rise in the costs of drugs, both of which will create challenges in the future for the NHS. 

However, Mr Lansley is likely to defend his position on the NHS and will insist that he will not introduce risky competition into the NHS and that its future lies clearly in the hands of patients and healthcare professionals and not politicians. 

It represents Mr Lansley’s warning of the future state of the NHS and how he sees reform as being necessary to ensure the NHS is fit for purpose now and in the future. Despite Mr Lansley’s warning on the need to revamp the NHS, he is still struggling to convince voters, unions and opposition politicians that a reformed NHS will not lead to back-door privatisation. 

Mr Lansley’s comments come after David Cameron, who is forced to step in and “pause” the unpopular Health and Social Care Bill in order to consider changes from critics and prevent a Lords rebellion, warned that the reforms were essential to avert a £20 billion funding shortfall. 

Mr Lansley will address a King’s Fund conference on NHS leadership: “As the Prime Minister set out so clearly this week, the NHS faces some significant long-term challenges.”

“An ageing population, increasing costs of drugs and new treatments, growing, almost insatiable public expectations.”

“If we choose to ignore these pressures, if we stick with the status quo, then in the years ahead the NHS will face a genuine crisis. One that threatens its very existence.”

It is likely that his comments will prompt claims that as one of the world’s biggest employers, whose £120 billion budget accounts for almost a fifth of public spending – could be improved. However, this alone critics would argue is not a reason to scrap the existing NHS structure for the untested transfer of power to GPs and GP consortia. 

Furthermore, Mr Lansley is likely to be criticised in his claims that the health service is poor at integrating care from patients, despite the fact that his plans to reform the health service will allow private companies to provide treatment, which will fragment services even further. 

He will say: “Unfortunately, the NHS is not particularly good at integration. What it is good at is episodic care. The needs of patients are often not catered for by the strengths of the service. The result is that, far too often, care today in the NHS is fragmented.”

“Care needs to be organised not around the needs of a particular provider, but around the needs of the individual patient. To have good care, care needs to be integrated.”

In his speech to the King’s Fund conference, Mr Lansley will attempt to reassure critics of the reform that providers will compete on quality rather than cost, and that “competition is a means, not an end” in order to improve results for patients. 

He will also soften his previous criticisms of excessive bureaucracy in the NHS, saying that he realises that “high-quality managers” are essential to the service. 

He will conclude: “I don’t want the future of the NHS to be determined by me or any other politician. I want it to be determined by the millions of choices made by millions of individual patients working in partnership with their healthcare professionals.”

With the debate about the future of the NHS continuing, Mr Lansley’s latest address to critics is unlikely to pacify them. Some of the main concerns are is a future NHS run on competition going to be in the best interest of patients and patient care, will quality rather than cost be the key issue when determining who is going to provide the care patients need. Will a re-structured NHS see a shrinking in the number of people being employed by the NHS, such as less doctors and nurses, which some will argue is not in the best interest of patients. 

As the government continues to re-assure healthcare professionals and the public that unless the NHS reforms, its very existence is under threat. MPP Locums continues to work with NHS Trusts across the UK to provide first class medical personnel where the demands and shortfalls are needed. 

MPP Locums is an approved supplier of locum doctor jobs, doctor jobs to the NHS under the National Locum contract starting 1st July for the next three and we are regulated by the care Quality Commission and The NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency (PASA).

As one of the largest and fastest growing specialist recruitment agencies in the UK, MPP Locums provides first class medical professionals to both the NHS and private health care providers. 

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Doctors and Managers say in a recent announcement, “The NHS in England needs a rapid decision over the NHS reform bill to avoid disarray.”

The NHS Confederation and British Medical Association said, “Uncertainty after the plans were put on hold may even put saving targets in jeopardy.”

This latest round of support for the controversial health bill came as the government embarks on a series of discussions on making wide-ranging concessions to the NHS reform bill. 

But, in a boost to ministers, GPs piloting the changes have urged the government to press ahead. 

More than 40 GPs who are already working in consortia ahead of the government’s proposal to pass over NHS budgets to GP consortia from 2013, wrote a letter published in the Daily Telegraph, which said, “The reforms were needed to improve patient care.”

The lead signatory of the letter, Dr Jonathan Munday, chairman of the Victoria Commissioning Consortium, and a former Conservative councillor and mayor echoed earlier comments by David Cameron - “The reforms were not revolutionary but an evolution.”

With a more open competition led NHS, GP consortia will take charge of their budgets to allocate resources where they feel it is best spent. This could include shopping around local hospitals for the best care & treatment for their patients, as well as being in the position to recruit GPs and GP Locums independently, which could see an increase in GP Locum doctor jobs where the demand outstrips the supply. 

Last month in an effort to appease critics of the reform, the government put the progression of the health bill in parliament on hold to carry out further consultation from those within the profession. 

However, some have described the move as a purely a PR exercise, including Labour leader Ed Milliband who said, “The promise to listen to concerns about the proposal was a sham and said the failing reforms were Mr Cameron’s fault.”

But David Cameron said, “Significant and substantial changes would be made.”

The government’s announcement to scrap PCTs has so far caused the most controversy because it was not part of the Conservative manifesto or coalition agreement. 

Since the plans were announced the number of PCTs has shrunk rapidly from more than 150 to just over 50 clusters. 

So far, the government has already made concessions over the price and cherry picking by private companies, but further announcements over the extent to which the NHS is being opened up to competition law can be expected. 

Other key areas include whether the make-up of GP commissioning groups could be widened to include other groups such as nurses. 

In June, the government is to announce the results of its listening exercise. Nigel Edwards, of the NHS Confederation, said, “It could not come soon enough. The NHS has an incredible capacity for change, and the system goes into overdrive. So much is happening already that decisions need to made rapidly, ideally before September.”

Stephen Dorrel, a Tory MP and chairman of the health select committee, said, “There was no reason why the key principles of the plans should not survive as they were in line with most of the key ideas of the last 20 years.”

Instead, he said, “He expected to see changes in emphasis and presentation as well as greater clarity over issues such as accountability.”

“I hope what we will see is a bill which is accurately targeted at the problems. That is managing demand for health care against a backdrop of tighter finances and changing patterns of need in the community.”

However, in a sign of the difficulty the government faces in its attempt to gain consensus, Richard Vautrey, of the BMAs GP committee suggested, “The government may have to start again.”

“Withdraw the bill, reframe it and return it to parliament once you have the support of the profession. It is a mess. Valuable, talented managers are already jumping ship. We have to be mindful the NHS has to make significant savings so more than anything the NHS needs clarity.”

A Department of Health spokesman said, “We remain committed to the principle of our plans and improvements will be made as we listen, including to the views of those within the NHS.”

As the government continues to consult with those within the profession before announcing their findings in June, there are those who believe that this delay in pushing through changes to NHS is only damaging the NHS. 

Until the government announces on how they intend to reform the NHS, there is still much debate on whether or not the reforms will actually benefit patients. The main concerns are that with increased competition, scrapping of PCTs will see a reduced NHS workforce, less doctors and less patient care as budgets are put in front of patient care. 

With NHS Trusts across the UK still unsure of how the NHS reform bill will affect them, MPP Locums provides first class medical personnel across the UK. 

As one of the largest and fastest growing specialist recruitment agencies in the UK, MPP Locums provides first class medical professionals to both the NHS and private health care providers. 

Contact our registration team today if you want to be part of our growing medical specialist team. 

In a recent survey carried out by Pulse magazine found that one in three GPs plan to leave the NHS within the next 5 years. The main driver for GPs planning to resign was attributed to the Government’s health reforms. 

With more GPs planning to resign will lead to a short fall of GPs within the NHS and a bigger demand for locum doctors to fill the void of those retiring or leaving the medical profession altogether. 

Furthermore, as more GPs plan on leaving the profession the strain on the NHS to maintain patient welfare will increase with the NHS seeking to increase doctor recruitment in areas where there is a short fall. This short fall in doctor jobs could lead to the Government increasing doctor recruitment and locum doctor jobs from within member states of the EU. 

The poll highlighted that 46% of those surveyed suffer from stress, with 19% having anxiety and 7% suffering from depression. 

Overall, 71% said the Government’s health bill had “slightly damaged” or “greatly damaged” their morale, while 9% said it had “slightly increased” or “greatly increased,” it and 20% said it had no effect. 

Furthermore, 18% of GPs surveyed believed general practice was currently moving in the right direction, while 63% said it was not and 19% did not know. 

Out of the 576 GPs who took part in the survey, 60% of GPs thought that the amount of time they spend with patients on average has got worse over the last 5 years, while 8% said it had improved. 

In addition to GPs saying that time seeing patients had got worse, some 36% of those surveyed said that they go into their surgery at the weekends to catch up on paperwork, with 73% of GPs claiming that the average weekly hours worked has increased with GPs now working longer than they have done in the past. 

Almost 59% said their practice’s ability to meet patients expectations had got worse over the past 5 years, but only 13% reported it had improved and 45% said the overall level of NHS care had got worst over the past 5 years, while 17% said it had improved. 

From the 576 GPs surveyed, 35% are planning on leaving or will retire in the next five years. 

Dr Hamish Meldrum, head of the British Medical Association said, “He feared low morale could cause senior GPs to leave the NHS.”

“Morale isn’t that good when it comes to things like pay, the threats to pensions and the various other things that are going on in the NHS.”

“One worries that actually more senior GPs will think: ‘Well, it’s just not worth it – I’ll take my pension before the blighters get hold of it and I’ll retire.’

With 35% of GPs planning on leaving or retiring within the next 5 years, this is a potential disaster for the NHS as the Government is committed to improve the health service and patient care. 

With the NHS reform bill on hold at the moment, the Government clearly needs to consult with those within the profession to ensure they are being listened to and to improve their working conditions so that more GPs do not leave the profession due to over-work, depression and lack of contact time with patients. 

As the demand for locum doctors is set to increase within the NHS as more GPs plan on leaving, MPP Locums is a first class provider of medical personnel across the UK. 

MPP Locums is an approved supplier of locum doctor jobs, doctor jobs to the NHS under the National Locum contract starting 1st July for the next three and we are regulated by the care Quality Commission and The NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency (PASA).

As one of the largest and fastest growing specialist recruitment agencies in the UK, MPP Locums provides first class medical professionals to both the NHS and private health care providers. 

Contact our registration team today if you want to be part of our growing medical specialist team.

In a recent interview, Nick Clegg has said, “The listening exercise over NHS reforms is not a gimmick and the Government will make significant changes to legislation.”

The statement issued by Nick Clegg came when he was talking to patients about their concerns over reforms to the NHS, which has stirred a lot of opposition from both the public and those within the profession. 

Under the proposed reform, GPs will be put in charge of commissioning services and the architect of the shake-up Health Secretary Andrew Lansley will meet with potential GP consortia while the NHS reform bill is on hold. 

The events are the first in a series of forums set up after the Government decided to put the reform on hold amid fierce criticism. 

Furthermore, the Government is coming under fire with accusations of MPs having “no control” over many of the costs of the reforms. 

In a recent report by the Public Accounts Committee warned, “that pushing through the charges while seeking £20 billion in efficiency savings could put patient care at risk.”

The latest round of concerns were raised in a report into the controversial changes that are threatening to drive a wedge between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. 

Already, Norman Lamb, one of Nick Clegg’s closest advisors has hinted that he could resign unless the pace of the changes and implementation of the reforms is slowed down. 

Speaking at the forum held at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London, Mr Clegg admitted, “The coalition had not successfully won the argument.”

“We haven’t yet persuaded enough people in the NHS and elsewhere that we’re trying to do is good for the NHS. We’ve taken this unusual step to do precisely that. To stop, and to listen, and to learn.”

“Let me stress this, this is not a gimmick, it’s not a PR exercise. We will make changes, we’ll make significant and substantive changes to the legislation which at the moment is – if you like – it’s suspended in the House of Commons in order to make sure that those who perhaps develop some very serious and legitimate doubts about some of the details of the plans feel that it’s now on the right track again and then we can move forward together.”

Although the NHS reform bill is hold at the moment as the Government consults further with clinicians, and other concerned groups, the Government is still far from convincing those within the profession and the general public that reforms to the NHS will improve patient care, give greater choice and be more financially efficient, allowing more money to be ploughed back into the NHS.

The key concerns are more redundancies, less investment in GPs and training and that profits are put in front of patient care. As uncertainty about the future of the NHS continues, MPP Locums is a first class provider of medical personnel across the UK. 

With years of expertise within the industry, MPP Locums understands what are clients’ needs are in an ever-changing NHS and are able to provide the personnel needed as budgets and demands change. 

MPP Locums is an approved supplier of locum doctor jobs, doctor jobs to the NHS under the National Locum contract starting 1st July for the next three and we are regulated by the care Quality Commission and The NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency (PASA).

As one of the largest and fastest growing specialist recruitment agencies in the UK, MPP Locums provides first class medical professionals to both the NHS and private health care providers. 

Contact our registration team today if you want to be part of our growing medical specialist team.