Commenting on the 2006–07 NHS net surplus of more than £500m announced today (6 June 2007) by the health secretary, Dr Jonathan Fielden, Chairman of the British Medical Association’s (BMA) Consultants’ Committee, said:
“While the NHS may be in credit today, the journey to balance the books has wreaked havoc on the NHS and is a return to boom and bust health economics. There have been excessive cuts in service and it will take years to rebuild the trust and collaboration that has been destroyed in the past year.
“Consultants are desperate to lead change and introduce new treatments for patients but they are being hampered by cuts, target and micromanagement from Whitehall. Patients deserve the highest quality service and the government needs to work with us to achieve this goal.”
