Andrew Turner’s office as forwarded the reply to share with OnTheWight readers. Ed
Dear Stewart
I hope you are keeping well. Thank you for your letter about the NHS.
I’m sure you will be glad to hear that during my summer surgery and over the Garlic Festival weekend many people have praised the care they have received at St Mary’s and other local health services. Whilst nobody would claim things are perfect at all times, I am pleased to put on record my appreciation for the outstanding care local health teams routinely give to Islanders.
In the 2010 Conservative Party Manifesto promises were made that GPs would be given control over the health service budget (p46); that new social enterprises would be formed to deliver NHS services and that all types of providers, NHS, voluntary or independent would be free to deliver NHS services (p27). Plans for an independent NHS Board were set out, as was scrapping central targets set by politicians and cutting unnecessary administrative costs (p46). Those promises have been kept.
We have moved away from top-down organisation to give control and power to those working in local health services to decide what is in the best interests of their patients. The planning and purchasing of most Island healthcare is now undertaken by our local GP practices working with other health professionals, ably led by Shanklin GP, Dr John Rivers. They are making a tremendous success of these new freedoms and responsibilities and I congratulate them on their work. During the passage of the Health and Social Care Bill changes were made to address specific concerns raised, but fundamentally I believe it is right to put day-to-day running of health services in the hands of doctors rather than politicians. It has however always been clear that Ministers remain responsible for the NHS. I meet regularly with Island health service clinicians and managers to hear any concerns they may have and take any issues up with Ministers as appropriate.
This Government will not privatise the NHS and has guaranteed that it will always provide treatment free, regardless of ability to pay. You seem to have forgotten that the Labour Government enthusiastically promoted elements of private care and you fail to explain why private sector healthcare within the NHS was right under Labour, but is wrong now. I genuinely believe that most Islanders simply want the best possible care for themselves and their loved ones and are not particularly concerned about who provides it. The truth is that the country needs grown up discussion about the future of the NHS, rather than political posturing and crude caricatures from anyone involved.in the debate.
The health reforms specifically do not favour any particular type of provider. It is for our local health professionals, not the Government, to decide which providers can best meet the needs of Island patients; that may be NHS hospitals, social enterprises, voluntary organisations or private sector providers. GPs are at the heart of the service and have the most detailed knowledge of our local community and health needs. They are free to work in collaboration with whoever can best fill those needs and they can purchase services from any provider that meets NHS standards and costs.
Politicians arguing about statistics is of little interest to most people, so I hope you will simply join me in welcoming the recent report by the Commonwealth Fund into the performance of different national health systems. It concluded that the NHS is the best health service in the world. This is a real endorsement of this Government investing an extra £12.7 billion in the health service meaning we have now more than 7,400 more doctors and 3,300 more nurses than in 2010 and 85,000 more operations are being carried out each year.
Finally, I am not able to usefully comment on what you describe as the ‘Efford Bill’ as the text of it has not yet been published! I am not sure of the source of your information about it, but personally I always find it wise to read the text of any Bill before commenting in detail about it.
Thank you for taking the time to write to me. As it is clear that you have already released your letter to the local media I am releasing it directly to those that have already contacted me about it.
