Everything we have been saying is true: SIN has been vindicated, as have all the other brave patients who have been protesting about the dangerously low standards of medical care in the NHS. Now European doctors are exposing these poor standards which are caused more by entrenched  arrogance, unprofessional  attitudes and a blatant disregard for the needs and  safety of patients  - rather than by a lack of money!

Alain Sanouiller, 42,   a senior French doctor who has studied at Harvard and has been a doctor in the Foreign Legion, was brought in to shake up GP services in Central London and he also worked in several Outpatient Clinics, has resigned in disgust after only a few months.  He was based at Westminster Primary Care Trust which  covers staff working at Buckingham Palace as well as Whitehall and the Palace of Westminster, St Mary's Hospital etc.  - hardly the poorest parts of London!  Managers of the Westminster Trust have blamed his departure on a 'personality clash'.  He plans to reveal his experiences in the French media.

What did Dr. Sanouiller discover?

• he immediately identified 110 people who were receiving sub-standard treatment and 12 who had to be recalled urgently!
• he claimed that 90% of patients treated at Outpatients Clinics were receiving inadequate care, with up to 15% being 'put in danger'!
• he found his efforts to cut four-hour waiting times at outpatients clinics at St. Mary's Hospital were resisted
• none of his recommendations were implemented
• not enough staff to monitor chronic conditions of kidney function, diabetes, cardiac or even for basic eye tests
• he wanted to put the patient first, which is the dictum in France, but the system here did not allow him to do that
• he found that the current difficulties of the NHS are  not just about funding, there is also a problem of behaviour, lack of co-operation and resistance to facing new challenges.
• doctors in Britain are paid up to 50% more than their French counterparts ( and this is before the new deal which  has been refused)
• he runs a medical recruitment company and can no longer  hire doctors from France and Germany to work in the UK,  because they will not be able to do the job right -  obviously the motivation is not money for these doctors!

Dr. von Lucken is a German orthopaedic specialist who worked in an NHS hospital. In one week he halved the waiting lists, examining 87 patients with hip, knee and ankle problems out of a queue of 200 who had been waiting up to six months. Dr von Lucken from Hanover  said he was treated with open hostility at the Royal Hospital Haslar in Gosport, Hampshire, particularly by senior consultants.

German Medicine Net, another firm that has brought doctors to Britain to tackle NHS waiting lists, have found that efforts have been repeatedly thwarted by resistance from local hospital specialists.

A study by the Paris based organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development earlier this year found that the British health care system was one of the least effective in Europe in terms of the amount of work carried out by doctors. The NHS was ranked alongside the health service of Hungary, one of the poorest nations on the Continent.
 
 

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This appeared in the Labour Party Conference Issue dated 30th September, 2002. SIN was informed that this magazine would  have a readership of 15000, because it was given out to all the delegates at the Party Conference. In addition it is sent to all the Ministers, civil servants, Chief Executives and to the Welsh Assembly the Scottish Parliament and to the European Parliament.

    

This statement appeared just after the SIN Demonstration ( 15th April 2002) and was published  in the 30 th April 'Health Issue' and also in the House of Lord's Colour Magazine, which has a shelf life of one year.
 

 

   

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After 50 years the NHS faces reform at last -  new consultants' contracts, which took two years of hard negotiating with the BMA, the doctors' Trade Union,  have been drawn up together with more money. It was Aneuryn Bevan who had the hard task of getting the fledgling NHS off the ground in 1948, and he made the memorable statement that he was only able to achieve this by "stuffing the mouths of the consultants with gold". 

 The BMA 'Consultant's Committee  had arranged a series of  meetings around the country to explain the new reforms to groups of consultants. The Consultant's Committee, under the Chair of Dr. Peter Hawker,  recommended  acceptance. A vote was taken. Northern Ireland and Scotland accepted the reforms - the consultants of England  rejected the Reforms by a 2 to 1 majority. The Chair of the BMA Consultants' Committee resigned.

Why the discrepancy? One theory is that England, being more populated and wealthier has more private practice and so the English consultants  disliked the fact that the new NHS contracts would restrict the time available for  lucrative  private practice. 

It is very difficult to ascertain the exact nature of the proposed Reforms, but from various media outlets it would appear that the  Reforms give a great deal more money for more contracted NHS: 

• The is a new fund of £300 million earmarked for the Reforms
• Salaries could increase by 15% to 24%. For example a Consultant Radiologist, now getting £71,000 would get an increase of 18% taking the salary to £83,780.
• for this money  consultants would have to do more hours in the NHS. Taking the above example, the Consultant Radiologist would have to work for 40 hours per week rather than for the present 38 and a half hours. On the surface this would seem to be a very good deal.
• extra time 'on call'  - would give an automatic increase of another 10% taking the salary up to £92,158 ( if our calculations are correct) This example taken from Financial Times 2nd November,2002 

In the NHS Plan 2000 the Secretary fo State for Health had warned that; " new contracts would ensure that the right to undertake private practice will depend  ,,,,,on fulfilling NHS service requirements." One would have thought that this was a reasonable proviso.

Quote  from  senior D.o.H. sources: "This is not about going to war with the BMA ( Trade Union) or with the consultants. It was about finding a system which rewards the productivity of those doctors who do most for NHS patients."  FT 2nd. Nov. 2002. Who could disagree with this?

Another D.o.H. quote :"Consultants elsewhere in the world and in the private sector here get paid for work done, not just for turning up". " From now on, consultants who get results will be paid for delivering that better service. We will consult on this, but ultimately we intend to impose changes and get rid of Spanish practices like consultants counting travelling time to their private work as NHS time."

Another quote from D.o.H.: "We do not intend to discuss this new plan with the BMA. First we do not know who to discuss it with and second, the national contract is dead". 

• Mr Milburn is to force through hospital consultant reform - no more negotiations
• the £300 million will be used for this purpose +
• Mr Milburn also plans to seize the £130 million used as "merit awards". This is money (from the D.o.H / taxpayer). which is  under the control of  the Royal Colleges to distribute as "merit awards" to which ever consultant is deemed suitable. Some of highest 'merit awards' are worth more than £65,000 a year!

•  Mr Milburn is reviving a scheme to introduce a new specialist doctor's grade, equivalent to a 'junior' consultant. This tier will be eligible for the pay rise rejected by consultants and also for 'merit' payments. Mr Milburn will have a total of £430 mill. at his disposal.( Source: Sunday Times 3rd. Nov. 2002)

• To take industrial action and to withdraw their labour. The last time the consultants went on strike, except for emergencies, was in the early seventies when Barbara Castle tried to bring in reforms. Anecdotal evidence is that the death rate fell!!
• To withdraw from the NHS altogether and to set up 'chambers' and behave as barristers  thereby ensuring that the NHS would have to buy in their services on private contracts. The disadvantages of this route are at least twofold: (i) The very high cost of setting up private 'chambers' and (ii) the loss of the very generous State run NHS pension scheme.    Source: FT 2nd. Nov. 2002

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