NHS reform process extremely risky, says RCN

Published: 15 December 2010

Responding to ‘Liberating the NHS: Legislative Framework and Next Steps’, published by the Government today (15 December),  Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Chief Executive & General Secretary, Dr Peter Carter, said:

“When the government published its White Paper on health the RCN warned that the scale and speed of reforms risk the NHS breaking up, with a potentially disastrous impact on patient care. While we note the increased funding for commissioning services, this comes as the NHS in England is being asked to save up to £20 billion in efficiency savings – a huge challenge – and the risks are still considerable. Furthermore as we have identified 27,000 NHS jobs earmarked to be cut to date, it is misleading to suggest that the NHS frontline is being protected.

“We welcome the government giving more attention to the process as the NHS goes through this huge transition, in particular the intention to pilot consortia reforms. However, we are extremely disappointed that there is no explicit commitment that nursing expertise will be harnessed at all levels of the commissioning process and on the NHS Commissioning board. There is a real risk that services will become fragmented as consortia groups could become reluctant to collaborate and share good practice. The Government has said that consortia only need to ‘have appropriate advice from professionals with expertise in health’. However, we believe the reforms will struggle to meet future challenges without the full involvement of nurses.

“As the health select committee identified yesterday, the NHS is facing an unprecedented challenge. The Government will need to win support from staff to implement its changes and there are still gaps in the reform process left unfilled. The RCN remains committed to engaging with the process and to responding further in due course.”

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Notes to Editors

For further information, interviews or illustrations please contact the RCN Media Office on 0207 647 3633, press.office@rcn.org.uk or visit http://www.rcn.org.uk/news/mediacentre.php

Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is the voice of nursing across the UK and is the largest professional union of nursing staff in the world. The RCN promotes the interest of nurses and patients on a wide range of issues and helps shape healthcare policy by working closely with the UK Government and other national and international institutions, trade unions, professional bodies and voluntary organisations.