Is there light at the end of the NHS tunnel?

My colleague Ayesha Bharmal recently commented on a difficult week for David Cameron following ablog from influential Tim Montgomerie at ConservativeHome that called for the Health and Social Care Bill to be scrapped.

Tim’s blog kick-started a flurry of media coverage questioning the value of the Bill, focusing on the fact there is a significant amount of reform, including clinical involvement in commissioning, that can be rolled out without new legislation. Labour saw this as the opportunity to twist the knife, and reminded Government of Andy Burnham’s offer to strike a deal to bring wider commissioning into the NHS, but only if the Bill was binned.

Baroness Warsi went some way to tackle the criticism in her public response, but this didn’t resolve the rumours that the Liberal Democrats will table an emergency motion at their Spring Conference opposing the Bill, which could potentially set a revolt in motion.      

That was two weeks ago and since then the situation hasn’t got any better for the Government.

The Prime Minister’s announcement on Friday that the Department of Health would  host a summit on implementing the NHS reforms was attacked for not including leading healthcare representatives such as British Medical Association and Royal College for General Practitioners, both pivotal in making the reforms work in practice. Criticism from these professional bodies has predominantly focused on what appears to be a decision by Government to play a game of divide and rule. But it’s not only the membership organisations that have voiced their concerns – today a YouGov poll shows that two-thirds of the country doesn’t trust Government on the NHS.  

So is there anything else the Government can do that won’t spur criticism? Surely the only option is to scrap the Bill?

I disagree.

Today the Department of Health published evidence that shows how patients are already benefitting from clinical commissioning groups across the UK, including significant reductions in emergency admissions and hospital visits. It’s a shame this has been announced as a knee-jerk reaction to the weekend’s stories. But importantly it shows that a) there are healthcare professionals supporting and implementing these changes, and b) they can prove beneficial for the patient.

The important thing for David Cameron – and Andrew Lansley if he wants to save his job – is to push beyond the current narrative around the upheaval in primary care. They need to start demonstrating how the NHS reforms are, and will continue to deliver an integrated patient pathway from diagnosis to treatment and to aftercare, which also tackles the Nicholson Challenge of £20 billion of efficiency savings by delivering value for money.

Following the health summit this afternoon David Cameron said the focus now is on myth-busting and educating people about the benefits of GP decision making and patient choice. He is right. Only when Government starts talking about the changes on a local level, in practical terms but within the context of the overall aim of the reforms, will they have any chance of convincing the public, NHS employees and parliamentarians that there is reason to carry on with the Health and Social Care Bill.