Andrew Lansley’s ‘damaging reforms at root of the current NHS crisis’

[LeftishBrit]

The Coalition’s health reforms were “damaging and distracting” for the NHS, and government policy for the past two years has been “devoted to limiting the damage”, health experts have said.


In a highly critical report, the King’s Fund think-tank said the reforms pushed through by the former Health Secretary Andrew Lansley had probably contributed to the current crises in the NHS....

Drawn up during Mr Lansley’s time in opposition from 2005 to 2010, they were outlined in a now-notorious White Paper in 2010, subheaded “Liberating the NHS”. They led to the complete overhaul of the management and bureaucratic structure of the NHS, while also placing a stronger emphasis on competition and markets in the provision of care.

But they coincided with a time of rising pressure on hospitals and GPs from an ageing and growing population, as well as a dramatic slowdown in government funding....

(More at link):

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/andrew-lansleys-damaging-reforms-at-root-of-the-current-nhs-crisis-10027314.html

[forest444]

1. It's a time-tested formula

1) Set sights on a publicly-owned service, preferably a high value-added one
2) Sabotage same
3) Bitch and moan about the need to profitize
4) Let Murdoch's media and Thatcherite rags such as The Economist relentlessly echo said "need"
5) Profitize
6) Begin asset stripping; this is to be done as quickly as possible, before opposition can reach critical mass
7) Rob Peter to pay Paul for a few years, all the while denying there's a problem
8) Intervene when it's already too late, making sure criminal charges are slow-walked past the statute of limitations
9) Rinse, and repeat