Health policies will kill NHS, warn top doctors

Senior doctors today attacked key government health policies, saying they are putting patients at risk and will destroy the NHS.

Flaws in ministers' plans will lead to the breakdown of the health service, delegates at the British Medical Association consultants' conference were told today.

Chairman of the BMA consultants' committee, Dr Paul Miller, addressing the conference in London, attacked the Government's central initiative of using private sector companies to treat NHS patients and urged politicians to work with doctors. Consultants are willing to share with Government their "vast collective knowledge to help make improvements that will really benefit patients", he said.

Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt says ?3billion of NHS money will go to private firms to provide an extra 1.7million operations in the next five years.

The Evening Standard has also revealed that two London NHS treatment centres could be handed over to private firms, a move criticised as privatisation.

Dr Miller said private treatment centres are paid more than the NHS to treat health service patients, yet often only undertake the easiest and cheapest procedures.

There are also concerns that teaching and research will suffer and that private firms do not have to bear the cost of any complications. Patient choice, a key government ideal, is being damaged by private sector centres as they have led to the closure of NHS units, which limits choice, he said.

He appealed to the Government to direct resources to the NHS rather than outside providers when the health service has the capacity to deliver. "Just imagine how much the NHS could have achieved if these enormous amounts of money

had been directed at mainstream NHS clinical services," he said.

"While we all applaud the improvements in healthcare, let's remember that these are achieved by the NHS and the contribution of independent sector treatment centres is tiny, despite their cost.

"Last year the NHS delivered 96per cent of cataract operations and 100 per cent of care in accident and emergency, obstetrics, cancer, mental health, and paediatrics."