{"id":2030,"date":"2014-10-27T16:17:09","date_gmt":"2014-10-27T16:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=2030"},"modified":"2014-10-27T16:17:09","modified_gmt":"2014-10-27T16:17:09","slug":"more-of-the-same","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=2030","title":{"rendered":"More of the same?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

NHS boss Simon Stevens has put forward an ambitious new NHS plan, Five Year Forward View<\/a><\/em>, last week (October 23), which outlines ways in which the health service can become more sustainable in the future.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Stevens has called for an additional \u00c2\u01418bn from Parliament by 2021 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c far exceeding what any political party has pledged \u00e2\u20ac\u201c with the assumption that the NHS can deliver \u00c2\u014122bn in annual savings in five year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite head of health Rachael Maskell called the savings figures \u00e2\u20ac\u015bimpossible to deliver in five years\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 if, she said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015byou are talking about a real improvement in health prevention, retraining and realigning the roles of NHS staff, together with integration of health and social care.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIn the last four years the NHS has been battered by the funding crisis resulting in \u00c2\u014120bn being sucked out of the service during this parliament,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe picture remains very bleak and it is clear that the plan will not plug the predicted \u00c2\u014130 billion financial black hole by 2020\/21.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The report has recommended placing greater emphasis on local initiatives to deliver the savings and improve care, but Colin Cram, a public sector consultant, has confirmed that the savings needed will inevitably mean major changes to health services.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe various models that have been described will deliver some benefits. However the history of the NHS shows that while there are some great local initiatives these are rarely taken up widely,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he explained in a Guardian op-ed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe last thing the NHS needs is yet another major reorganisation,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere is no chance that any political party will give the NHS anything like an extra \u00c2\u01418bn a year, so we should expect some radical surgery to the services being provided.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Elephant in the room<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Stevens appeared on BBC Radio 4<\/a> to answer questions about the plan, many of which came from audience members concerned about privatisation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But he managed to side-step nearly all of the most hard-hitting questions, a point that host Sarah Montague made sure to highlight. Still, the NHS boss persisted in giving convoluted answers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Stevens admitted support of private finance initiatives (PFIs), which will ultimately drain the health service of hundreds of billions of pounds and has put 22 NHS trusts at risk.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But the health service chief executive said PFIs were instrumental in building modernised hospitals throughout the country, while conspicuously failing to mention that building these hospitals could have been accomplished much more cheaply had they been financed by the government.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

On the subject of TTIP, a potential US-EU trade agreement that may open up the NHS to an even greater onslaught of privatisation, Stevens again evaded the question, saying that his \u00e2\u20ac\u015bcommitment was to the NHS.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey was particularly incensed by the secretiveness surrounding TTIP and whether health would be included.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe government has spent months trying to hide or even deny that the NHS was in the scope of TTIP now it transpires it sought and received legal advice on the trade deal. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s extremely worrying that the department of health is refusing to release it,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said McCluskey.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When host Montague mentioned poor pay in the health service, Stevens was again vague, saying pay in the future would have to keep up with private sector levels to retain staff.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Maskell denounced this omission in the original five-year plan, saying, \u00e2\u20ac\u015b[Stevens] makes precious little mention of the plummeting morale of the 1.3m workforce which is becoming a worrying pattern for this government with its continued failure to invest in skills, retention and development.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Questionable past<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

While Stevens did emphasise that the NHS would not be further privatised in the future \u00e2\u20ac\u201c\u00c2\u00a0 saying that the privatisation debate was \u00e2\u20ac\u015ban important debate but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not the main debate people want to be having, because there are much bigger questions we need answered\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c his past history raises eyebrows.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In his previous role as \u00e2\u20ac\u015bpresident of global affairs\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 of private American healthcare company UnitedHealth, a position he held until last year, he was also a founding figure in the Alliance for Healthcare Competitiveness, a pro-TTIP health lobby group that seeks the inclusion of health in the potential trade agreement.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As an Open Democracy<\/em> article noted<\/a>, Stevens acted as a spokesperson for the Alliance, and was once quoted in the Start Tribune, an American newspaper, as saying, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe worldwide need for health care in ageing populations will lead to a demand for goods and services that can drive sales of American insurance, medical devices and record-keeping technology.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Star Tribune, however, concluded, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe US health care system \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6is beset with skyrocketing costs and inefficiencies. Americans currently pay more for health care and rank lower in life expectancy and infant mortality than much of the developed world\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6The call to rebuild the US economy by selling pieces of what is generally considered a broken health care system struck some experts as a bit awkward.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Real changes needed<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Both Maskell and Unite national officer for health Barrie Brown argue that real changes are needed to create a sustainable NHS that stays true to its founding principles of free public health.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Agreeing with some of the ideas in the five-year plan, Brown said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe proposals to provide seamless patient care and remove the current barriers between acute, primary and community are welcome.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But he added, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis plan involves further use of privatised services and does not call for the repeal of the 2012 health and social care Act which has created many of the problems which Stevens seeks to address in the five year plan.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Maskel agreed, saying, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe best investment that the government could make in the NHS is the immediate scrapping of the health and social care Act which has already squandered \u00c2\u01413bn in a pointless reorganisation.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NHS boss Simon Stevens has put forward an ambitious new NHS plan, Five Year Forward View, last week (October 23), which outlines ways in which the health service can become more sustainable in the future.   Stevens has called for an additional \u00c2\u01418bn from Parliament by 2021 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c far exceeding what any political party has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":257,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[81],"wps_subtitle":"New NHS five-year plan calls for astronomic efficiency savings, silent on privatisation","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2030"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2030"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2030\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2033,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2030\/revisions\/2033"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}