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Majority of public 'unaware' of NHS review

26/06/2008

The majority of the British public are unaware of the current review into the future of the NHS in England, a new survey suggests today.

The poll of 1,000 people for the British Medical Association (BMA) found that over seven out of ten people (72 per cent) have not heard of the assessment spearheaded by health minister and surgeon Lord Ara Darzi.

His findings and recommendations are expected to be published next week.

The BMA has argued that in many areas there has been insufficient consultation with the public or staff on changes to local NHS services.

The doctors' group also claimed that it is aware of cases where doctors have been blocked from contributing to local reviews.

In Yorkshire BMA representatives were allegedly excluded from their strategic health authority's review process despite the BMA nominating a number of doctors who were keen to participate.

Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of BMA council says: "NHS reforms should not be left to the whim of managers, or imposed in a blanket way by primary care trusts.

"Whilst there needs to be clarity at a national level about what the NHS will provide, how that is delivered should be determined locally.

"Patients and staff need to be given the opportunity to help implement changes that make sense, but also to object to changes they don't want. At the moment, there's still too much direction from the centre, and not enough local democracy."

He added: "Only by really engaging on an on-going basis with clinicians and the public will the NHS be able to provide the best possible care, tailored to local circumstances and make the best use of finite resources in an increasingly challenging environment.

"The BMA will do its part to help meet these challenges."