Daily Echo - Health chiefs blast NHS reform plans

Health chiefs blast NHS reform plans
GOVERNMENT plans to i overhaul the NHS will make it harder to fight disease outbreaks and hit worse-off residents hardest, according to some of Hampshire's top public health chiefs.
They have signed a letter claiming the reforms will do "irreparable harm to the NHS, individual patients and to society as a whole".
As Health Secretary I Andrew Lansley prepared to give his keynote speech to the Conservative Party conference, the letter, from 400 public health experts, said his proposals would I put patient safety at risk, i waste money and damage j trust in the medical profession.
Among the signatories were Southampton's director of public health, Dr Andrew Mortimore, three academics from
Southampton University, and Dr Anna Morris, a speciality registrar in public health at NHS Hampshire.
'Inequalities'
They said the changes would widen so-called "health inequalities", and weaken the ability of health authorities to fight disease outbreaks.
But Mr Lansley dismissed the warning, branding the experts' tactics "curious", and saying they had no evidence for their claims.
He told the Daily Echo: . "I can find you hundreds of i GPs who were signing letters saying how they agreed with the Bill, I met hundreds of doctors who did.
"I look at this letter and it says 'we worry about health inequalities', well, they widened under Labour and the Bill is very clear about the duty on all of those concerned to reduce them.
"They say they want local government to be more involved in delivering improvements to public health - the Bill enables that to happen.
"It's very curious. They make assertions, but when you look at it, there's no evidence for what they are asserting."
Just like fluoridation and inequalities.