Silence.... that is what has greeted the greatest reform of the NHS since it was created. Changes that make the Thatcher reforms look like the centralising policies of an old fashioned socialist government. When, in July 2005 the Government, via a letter from the then Chief Executive of the NHS, Sir Nigel Crisp, snuck "Creating a Patient Lead NHS" into the political void of the Parliamentary Summer Recess.
Nothing in the press
Nothing from the unions
Nothing from patient groups (strange when they make so much noise when they get drug company funding)
Not even crowing of "we were right" from the Tories as fund holding returned...
Eventually the RCN the most moderate of staff groups gets angry, mainly over job cuts and we get some press interest.
Mind you the once sceptical NHS Confederation suddenly start up on the party line!
Call me a cynic but I'd have thought that someone would want to change at least one part of Creating a Patient Lead NHS.
It gives the sanction to privatising parts of the NHS, GPs in London and Derbyshire ...Quotas for Non- NHS Hospitals ..... District Nurses by the same company that runs the bins next?
Creates a situation where Hospitals will close .... patient choice.
Returns to the post code lottery .. GPs will make the spending choices and like they are all Public Health trained accountants (NOT)
Job Losses, Privatisation and Waste ... The NHS is going to have to change all the NPfIT work (£12 billion) to match the new structures in Primary Care.
Where is the dissent? Where are the questions? Where are the mass demonstrations? Where is the passion? Where is the investigative journalism?
Who is benefiting from the silence?
And who is the patient doing the leading?
Or maybe me and Tony's Team have got ALL the right answers .........