Only one in four of Britain’s doctors thinks the government’s controversial NHS shake-up will improve patient care, according to the biggest survey of medical opinion since ministers unveiled their radical reforms.
Andrew Lansley’s belief that the most far-reaching changes to the service in its 62-year history will lead to higher standards is shared by only 23% of doctors.
Far more, 40%, say patients will not get superior care, the main justification for pushing through the reorganisation. And at least 25% “disagree” that the reforms will improve the quality of the care they provide, while 15% “strongly disagree” about this point.
The doctors’ views surfaced in a survey that the King’s Fund health thinktank commissioned from Doctors.net.uk, a social networking website. Detailed responses were given to the key measures proposed in July’s health white paper aimed at “liberating” the NHS.
The findings are significant because the 500 GPs and 500 hospital doctors who participated were chosen for being representative – they were not just random, self-selecting, respondents, as has happened in previous surveys. GPs, the key beneficiaries of the shake-up, were slightly more sceptical than hospital-based doctors.
The doctors are warning that the NHS cannot make the £20bn of savings by 2014 that ministers expect, while simultaneously undertaking a huge reorganisation that will see England’s 152 primary care trusts (PCTs) abolished and consortiums of GPs assume responsibility for the commissioning of services for patients.
About 45% in the survey said it would be impossible for the NHS to keep its focus on improving efficiency while implementing that and other reforms. Only 22% thought the NHS could do both at once.
There is some good news for Lansley in the poll. Of the GPs, 62% thought there were family doctors in their locality who could lead the new commissioning consortiums. And 40% of all the doctors believed the reforms would encourage closer working between GPs and their hospital colleagues (though 37% disagreed).
Anna Dixon, the King’s Fund’s director of policy, said: “This survey highlights significant scepticism among doctors about the … proposals and shows ministers have a lot of work to do to convince them that the reforms will improve patient care.”
Doctors’ leaders and Labour responded to the poll by demanding that Lansley slowed the pace of reform and revised his plans, which have aroused major concern in the medical community. Hamish Meldrum, chair of the British Medical Association, said: “This survey sends another signal that the government needs to rethink key elements of its plans if they are to improve NHS efficiency and bring the majority of the profession on board.”
The BMA and other key bodies such as the Royal College of Nursing, and NHS Confederation, fear Lansley is taking risks with the NHS by going too far too fast.
John Healey, the shadow health secretary, said: “It is telling that such a small minority of doctors believe [Lansley’s] untested and unnecessary overhaul of the NHS will achieve what he claims it will. These findings reveal just how little confidence [his] proposed reforms command.”
Among leading doctors, only Steve Field, chair of the Royal College of GPs, has openly endorsed Lansley’s plans. However he warned about “an inherited flock of financial albatrosses for the new GP consortia, which would be unfair”.
Lansley said: “Reform isn’t an option, it’s a necessity … Our plans give the NHS and patients a clear direction for the next five years and beyond. We believe that both purpose and pace are vital to improve services for patients.”
The Guardian UK