Cameron’s “public sector revolution” – yet more NHS closures

In an column in the Telegraph today the prime minister promised a revolution in public services with a new White Paper that will “decentralise public services and replace targets with common sense”. He ominously talks about his “mission to dismantle Big Government” while at the same time insisting his policy “is not about destabilising the public services that people rely on”.

David-Cameron-NHS However, the evidence of what’s been happening in the NHS recently would appear to be just that – destabilising, cutting, breaking up the services the public rely upon.

On Friday, Left Foot Forward outlined the catalogue of frontline cuts taking place in the health service – contradiciting David Cameron’s pre-election pledge that:

“…any cabinet minister if I win the election, if we win the election, who comes to me and says here are my plans and they involve frontline reductions they will be sent straight back to their department to go away and think again.”

In addition to the 3,000-plus hospital job cuts outlined on Friday, further evidence emerged today of the savage cuts being inflicted on the NHS, with the Mirror reporting the closure of dozens of Accident and Emergency units:

“The Prime Minister and Health Secretary Andrew Lansley repeatedly promised to stop more than 30 casualty and maternity departments closing.

“But they are all being scrapped as the Conservative-led Government takes an axe to the health service, with the number of doomed units actually growing under Cameron’s rule. One unit was even shut by hospital bosses despite an outcry from local GPs - which should have saved it under Mr Lansley’s ‘strict rules’ on closures…

“Mr Cameron had also pledged to continue increasing NHS spending but the service faces a real-terms cut [as first revealed by Left Foot Forward].

“And he vowed to avoid new upheaval only to unleash a massive shake-up the health service, handing large parts over to private firms [as exposed repeatedly by Left Foot Forward].”

In his column the prime minister adds that the state “will still have a crucial role to play”:

“…ensuring fair funding, ensuring fair competition, and ensuring that everyone – regardless of wealth – gets fair access.”

Fine sentiments – but what about the reality?

http://twitter.com/yorkierosie/status/39721959847772160 yorkierosie

RT @leftfootfwd: Cameron's "public sector revolution" – yet more NHS closures: http://bit.ly/gNHcrE reports @ShamikDas
http://twitter.com/elchicoalmendra/status/39722151779115008 Rafa

RT @leftfootfwd: Cameron's "public sector revolution" – yet more NHS closures: http://bit.ly/gNHcrE reports @ShamikDas
http://twitter.com/maximmanchester/status/39722430742265856 Max

RT @leftfootfwd: Cameron's "public sector revolution" – yet more NHS closures: http://bit.ly/gNHcrE reports @ShamikDas
http://twitter.com/andyfenlon/status/39722806329622528 Andrew Fenlon

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http://twitter.com/press_not_sorry/status/39723880847392768 Press Not Sorry

RT @leftfootfwd: Cameron's "public sector revolution" – yet more NHS closures: http://bit.ly/gNHcrE reports @ShamikDas
http://twitter.com/press_not_sorry/status/39723880847392768 Press Not Sorry

RT @leftfootfwd: Cameron's "public sector revolution" – yet more NHS closures: http://bit.ly/gNHcrE reports @ShamikDas
http://twitter.com/unitelondon/status/39724051911933952 Don’t Break Britain

RT @leftfootfwd: Cameron's "public sector revolution" – yet more NHS closures: http://bit.ly/gNHcrE reports @ShamikDas
http://twitter.com/unitelondon/status/39724051911933952 Don’t Break Britain

RT @leftfootfwd: Cameron's "public sector revolution" – yet more NHS closures: http://bit.ly/gNHcrE reports @ShamikDas
http://twitter.com/downinjamaica/status/39724259299442688 downinjamaica

RT @leftfootfwd: Cameron's "public sector revolution" – yet more NHS closures: http://bit.ly/gNHcrE reports @ShamikDas
http://twitter.com/downinjamaica/status/39724259299442688 downinjamaica

RT @leftfootfwd: Cameron's "public sector revolution" – yet more NHS closures: http://bit.ly/gNHcrE reports @ShamikDas
http://twitter.com/lewsosnhs/status/39724275321675776 lewsosnhs

RT @leftfootfwd: Cameron's "public sector revolution" – yet more NHS closures: http://bit.ly/gNHcrE reports @ShamikDas
http://twitter.com/lewsosnhs/status/39724275321675776 lewsosnhs

RT @leftfootfwd: Cameron's "public sector revolution" – yet more NHS closures: http://bit.ly/gNHcrE reports @ShamikDas
http://twitter.com/thehooleys/status/39725603686977536 thehooleys

RT @leftfootfwd: Cameron's "public sector revolution" – yet more NHS closures http://bit.ly/dYElNt
http://twitter.com/thehooleys/status/39725603686977536 thehooleys

RT @leftfootfwd: Cameron's "public sector revolution" – yet more NHS closures http://bit.ly/dYElNt
http://twitter.com/oldmankelv/status/39726025466314752 Kelvin John Edge

RT @leftfootfwd: Cameron's "public sector revolution" – yet more NHS closures: http://bit.ly/gNHcrE reports @ShamikDas
http://twitter.com/oldmankelv/status/39726025466314752 Kelvin John Edge

RT @leftfootfwd: Cameron's "public sector revolution" – yet more NHS closures: http://bit.ly/gNHcrE reports @ShamikDas
http://victorialabour.wordpress.com/2011/02/21/tory-libdems-close-more-nhs-casualty-and-maternity-wards/ Tory-LibDems close more NHS Casualty and Maternity wards | Victoria Ward Crosby labour

[...] Casualty and Maternity wards Posted on February 21, 2011 by victorialabour Shamik Das in LeftFootForward.org Feb [...]
http://twitter.com/superretroid/status/39727626612518914 Paul Wood

RT @leftfootfwd: Cameron's "public sector revolution" – yet more NHS closures: http://bit.ly/gNHcrE reports @ShamikDas
http://twitter.com/superretroid/status/39727626612518914 Paul Wood

RT @leftfootfwd: Cameron's "public sector revolution" – yet more NHS closures: http://bit.ly/gNHcrE reports @ShamikDas
http://twitter.com/ldtuc/status/39728460070912000 L DTUC

RT @leftfootfwd: Cameron's "public sector revolution" – yet more NHS closures: http://bit.ly/gNHcrE reports @ShamikDas
http://twitter.com/ldtuc/status/39728460070912000 L DTUC

RT @leftfootfwd: Cameron's "public sector revolution" – yet more NHS closures: http://bit.ly/gNHcrE reports @ShamikDas
http://twitter.com/baselinetweet/status/39728708772171776 BASELINE

RT @leftfootfwd: Cameron's "public sector revolution" – yet more NHS closures: http://bit.ly/gNHcrE reports @ShamikDas
william

Why should the state be the sole provider of telephone services?BT was privatised in 1984, and nobody complains about their halving their workforce and alternative competitors being born.Health is the same,a monopolistic service run for the employees,not the users who pay through their taxes.Would you fight the next election on a ticket of nationaslising food retailers? Please get real,this is not 1946.
http://twitter.com/sean_gittins/status/39729900915146752 sean gittins

RT @leftfootfwd: Cameron's "public sector revolution" – yet more NHS closures: http://bit.ly/gNHcrE reports @ShamikDas
JoshC

@William.

“Health is the same,a monopolistic service run for the employees,not the users who pay through their taxes.”

Utter crap William. You clearly have no concept whatsoever of what the employees of the NHS go through every day to deliver services to the public that are way better than they should be considering how little is spent on them compared to other comparible nations.
http://twitter.com/gac161/status/39745614828929024 GaryC

RT @leftfootfwd: Cameron's "public sector revolution" – yet more NHS closures: http://bit.ly/gNHcrE reports @ShamikDas
Ted Duggan

Health and Education are essential to any well off country and they should be FREE

This government is distroying everything ….ONLY the wealthy will be able to afford education and health care ….Thatcher is back with trousers
william

Josh C,go and see how the NHS treats old people: I, like many,have a sharp experience of having witnessed something ten times worse than Fawlty Towers.
http://twitter.com/unitonehifi/status/39769838339637248 chris star

Cameron’s “public sector revolution” – yet more NHS closures…
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Richard

One of the problems with the elderly in hospital is many are there for long periods when in fact they should be in respite and specialist care homes, as Age Concern is the first to recognise.
As for the virtues you impute to the privatisation of public services, just take a look at the useless train services in this country compared to our European and world counterparts. Perhaps you’d care to explain why a majority of the public would like to see the railways renationalsied.
Anon E Mouse

JoshC – So do you believe then that there should be more management in the NHS than doctors and nurses?

Richard – A majority of the public want Capital Punishment back. A majority of people watch the X-Factor or Eastenders – your excusing of the incompetence in the NHS because it suits your silly desire for socialist policies flies in the face of the last LABOUR government who privatised operations from 2004… Get real man…
andrew smith

actually JochC – you’re buying in to one of the biggest myths and cons out there at the moment. Read the report by the NHS Conederation – ‘Management in the NHS’. They point out that itthe number of managers in the NHS is lower than the proportion of managers in the whole of the workforce in the UK which in 2009 was 16 per cent (Office of National Statistics).
http://www.nhsconfed.org/Publications/Documents/Management%20in%20the%20NHS.pdf
http://twitter.com/thepeasantpoet/status/39790994324983808 —

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http://twitter.com/17elephants/status/39793047180935168 Why

RT @unitonehifi: Cameron’s “public sector revolution” – yet more NHS closures…
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http://twitter.com/salardeen/status/39793288189984768 salardeen

RT @unitonehifi: Cameron’s “public sector revolution” – yet more NHS closures…
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http://twitter.com/mrmilesweaver/status/39794421000192000 Miles Weaver

RT @unitonehifi: Cameron’s “public sector revolution” – yet more NHS closures…
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http://twitter.com/jos21/status/39798456100982784 Jos Bell

RT @unitonehifi: Cameron’s “public sector revolution” – yet more NHS closures…
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http://twitter.com/lewsosnhs/status/39799908475084800 lewsosnhs

RT @unitonehifi: Cameron’s “public sector revolution” – yet more NHS closures…
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http://twitter.com/liza_harding/status/39803770984472576 Liza Harding

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Mr. Sensible

Cameron’s mask has slipped; everyone now knows that all this nonsense about ‘Big Society’ is just a cover for public service cuts.

The sooner the Lib Dems put a stop to this, the better. Mr Cable, you’ve told us you think the government is reforming too fast. You’ve told us you have a ‘nuclear option’. Use it.

BTW since we’re talking about what impact privatization has had, I think we only need look at our water companies. Private monopolies depending on which area of the country you live in. The only way to change your water supplier is to move. Might as well renationalize it.
http://twitter.com/myinfamy/status/39826314550722560 Daniel Pitt

Cameron's 'public sector revolution' translates into more NHS closures http://bit.ly/gNHcrE #ConDemNation
http://twitter.com/salardeen/status/39828472528510976 salardeen

RT @myinfamy: Cameron's 'public sector revolution' translates into more NHS closures http://bit.ly/gNHcrE #ConDemNation
scandalousbill

William,

You say:

“Why should the state be the sole provider of telephone services?BT was privatised in 1984, and nobody complains about their halving their workforce and alternative competitors being born.Health is the same,a monopolistic service run for the employees,not the users who pay through their taxes”

Your example of privatization n the Telecoms sector is interesting. First point to note is that the UK telecom infrastructure lags at 18th in the world, even according to Ofcom statistics. But the salient point can be gained when you consider the wide gap between rural and urban service provision. In short, private development has not exactly exhibited a terrific track record or exemplified a model for growth.

The infamous Race between Rural telecom and carrier pigeons is an additional case in point.

http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/1918564/carrier_pigeons_beat_broadband_in_uk_race/index.html?source=r_technology

“A race between an old method of using carrier pigeons versus the new modern form of communication through broadband took place in the U.K. on Thursday.
The pigeons took first place as they were released from a Yorkshire farm at the same time as a five-minute video upload began.
An hour and a quarter later, the pigeons reached their destination in Skegness 70 miles away, while only 24 percent of a 300 MB file had been uploaded. “

The example here results from the fact that investors will fund developments that provide them with the greatest return. In this instance rural services simply do not provide the revenue potential of larger urban areas. In terms of bandspeed it is a first world/third world type of comparison.
The Post Code Lotteries already prevalent in present NHS service is likely to be exacerbated as privatization increases. Investors will seek the best return as opposed to raising or equalizing standards in the quality of service.