The RCGP should push ahead with an outright opposition of the Health Bill regardless of its Council’s opinion, said one of the campaigning consultants that took part in the gruelling 160 mile Bevan’s Run.
In protest to the government’s Health Bill, cancer specialists Dr Clive Peedell and Dr David Wilson have just completed the equivalent of six back-to-back marathons in a run that started at the statue of NHS founder Nye Bevan in Cardiff and took them to the DH in Whitehall.
“This run was a message to the medical profession and the public. This bill is bloody awful and we need to rise up against it,” BMA Council member Dr Peedell told MiP.
“I’m still convinced that if the leaders of the royal colleges and the unions come together and issue a joint statement opposing the bill, we can stop it.”
Dr Peedell applauded the work of the Royal College of GPs’ (RCGP) Chair Dr Clare Gerada’s in campaigning against the bill and said she has “put all other royal college leaders to shame”.
“[Royal college leaders] are stuck in the middle of the road and want to bury their heads in the sand – I don’t think they even understand the wider politics as to what this bill is about,” he said.
While Dr Gerada would need the backing of the RCGP’s Council to launch an official call for the bill to be dropped, Dr Peedell said she “should just go for it” in light of a poll by the college published last week in which 98% of respondents said they opposed the government reforms.
“The survey results should allow Clare to go ahead with a calling for a drop in the bill without having to listen to people like Dr Steve Field,” said Dr Peedell.
Your comments (terms and conditions apply):
“Suggestion to those GPs who oppose the Health Bill. The NHS needs to move forward in its care – be it primary and/or secondary and you need to move with it – not to obstruct. Efficacy in treatment options accountability and continued monitoring are all vital in assessing excellent care delivery rather than good or satisfactory. The NHS needs an overhaul and when best to do so than now” – Name and address withheld
