(UK healthcare) Radical NHS reforms to go ahead

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Source: The Guardian

Andrew Lansley, the health secretary, announced today that the government will push ahead with radical plans to shake up the NHS – the biggest shift in power and accountability in its 62-year history – despite opposition from almost every part of the health service.

Among those raising the alarm in the 6,000 responses to the white paper – about the size and scale of the planned reforms – were the Royal College of GPs, trade unions, and the respected health thinktank the King's Fund.

The British Medical Association described the timetable for the reforms as "foolish" and warned that patient care could suffer as a result. Lansley said critics' claims were unfounded.

"We are going to have tight financial control, we are going to continuously improve the quality of service that we give to patients and we are also creating space for this new devolved decision-making coming from the bottom up," he told the BBC.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/dec/15/nhs-reforms-health-andrew-lansley