New NHS Reinstatement Bill

AIMS Journal 2014, Vol 26, No 3

Brand new NHS Reinstatement Bill from Allyson Pollock gives hope to campaigners

(Taken from www.opendemocracy.net/ournhs/ournhs/brandnew-nhs-reinstatement-bill-from-allyson-pollock-gives-hope-tocampaigners)

Leading NHS campaigners have come together to produce an NHS Reinstatement Bill which contains all the vital ingredients to stop and reverse NHS privatisation. And they want your views.

Leading public health experts have launched a consultation on a new Bill that aims to reverse the failings of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 and fully restore the National Health Service (NHS) in England as an accountable public service.

The NHS Reinstatement Bill proposes to abolish competition and the purchaser-provider split, re-establish public bodies and public accountability, and restrict the role of commercial companies. It draws on some of the best examples of NHS administration over its history, retains some features of the reforms laid out in the Health and Social Care Act 2012, and would be implemented on a timescale determined by the secretary of state.

The Bill would

• reinstate the government’s legal duty to provide the NHS in England

• re-establish district health authorities in England as a special health authority with regional committees and modified functions

• re-establish district health authorities (coterminous with local authorities), with family health services committees to administer arrangements with GPs, dentists, and others

• abolish competition and marketised bodies such as NHS trusts, NHS foundation trusts, and clinical commissioning groups, as well as Monitor, the regulator of NHS foundation trusts and commercial companies

• end virtually all commissioning and allow commercial companies to provide ser vices only if the NHS could not do so and otherwise patients would suffer

• re-establish community health councils to represent the interest of the public in the NHS

• prohibit ratification of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and other international treaties without the approval of Parliament (and the devolved bodies) if they would cover the NHS.

This Bill is a vital public health measure. It will both restore the NHS in England and reverse more than two decades of policies which have been intent upon privatising NHS services and funding, ultimately to its demise.

As the failures of the 2012 Act become daily ever more obvious, this Bill provides a template for very necessary reinstatement and reform.

The Bill has been drafted by barrister Peter Roderick with the assistance of Prof Allyson Pollock. They have benefitted from discussions with individuals and organisations concerned about the increasing role of the market in the NHS in England over the last 25 years. They wish to consult on the Bill with those who share their concern and our commitment to reinstating fully the NHS as an accountable public service as smoothly as possible and with only a minimal and exceptional role for commercial companies.

Responses to the Bill can be sent by email to

a.pollock@qmul.ac.uk
p.roderick@qmul.ac.uk