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Katherine Murphy, Chief Executive of the Patients Association commented on the Health and Social Care Bill, saying,

“No decision about me without me”. That has been the Department of Health’s mantra for the last few months and now with the Health Bill before Parliament it is time to see if they will live up to that promise.

The Patients Association are deeply concerned by the lack of detail in the Bill with regard to how the reforms will work. There are too many unanswered question and too many loose threads. Some aspects of GP commissioning have been explained, but many of those that were of deepest concern to patients are left vague. Will GPs spend too much time being managers and not enough time with their patients? How can we ensure that clinical decisions are made on the basis of what is best for the patient rather than what is best for the consortium’s bank balance?

We are also very concerned by the proposals for HealthWatch. LINks have proved to be ineffective and unpopular in many regions of the country, but the Department of Health is set on turning LINks into the new local HealthWatch without any critical analysis of the success of individual LINks. We have called time and again for an end to this type of postcode lottery of patient involvement, yet it still persists and the Health Bill does little to fix this. We are also concerned that the overseeing arm of local Healthwatch - HealthWatch England - will sit within the CQC, how will the public be convinced of the independence of HealthWatch England when it sits within the regulator?

The Government hopes that these changes will enable savings of over £5 billion but it is essential that these savings do not affect frontline services and patient safety. We have been told that there will be no frontline cuts but we hear day after day on our Helpline from patients and NHS staff who have reported that services are already being withdrawn. Physiotherapy, hernia operations, hysterectomies and tonsillectomies have all been affected. The squeeze on NHS resources is beginning to bite and there is no evidence that the Health Bill will change any of this.

Patients want real change not grand statements with nothing constructive behind them. Patient choice is pointless if services are understaffed and limited to all but a few cases. We need assurances that the Health Bill changes will not put patients at risk, will not make it harder for patients to access the treatment they need and will not mean doctors will deviate from clinical to commercial decisions.