NHS Consultations "Rigged" Says Geoff Martin
UK's Policy Makers.
A land mark legal challenge to prevent the unit closure of the Royal Brompton Hospital has hit the news. The local paper has quoted the leading health campaigner accusing the NHS of " Rigged Consultations".
This is what he said
"But chairman of campaign group Health Emergency Geoff Martin warned that flawed consultations were nothing new when saving money is concerned and predicted many more on the horizon as hospitals strive to keep up with the funding squeeze being imposed by the coalition.He said: "The culture of rigged consultations in the NHS is endemic and the scandal at the Royal Brompton is only the tip of a very large iceberg.
"We have seen consultations in the past where public opposition to cuts and closures has been almost unanimous and yet those words have been ignored and cuts bulldozed through, making a mockery of the entire consultation process."With more heavy-duty cuts in the NHS coming down the pipeline we can expect more of these bogus consultations off the back of Royal Brompton and we have to make sure that every single one of them is challenged."
Our experience of "rigged" consultations is as follows - NHS Reform has long challenged the inquiry process at the Health Select Committee. The Inquiry was accused by us of being "selective" so that the findings would also be "selective". We have witnessed the exclusion of numerous grass roots campaign groups from these consultations. Stephen Dorrell was sent a number of questions to outline who he plans on making these consultation processes more fair. So far he has failed to respond to our questions. It should be noted that in the recent Complaints Inquiry - an NHS Reform idea lifted by the Coalition Government without crediting us, refused to ask the Gosport Campaigners and Mr Will Powell of NHS Justice Group to give evidence. We ask why is this being done by NHS Consultations and Inquiries.
It follows that each consultation process conducted by the Health Select Committee have been based on interviews with the famous. The HSC has failed to interview the grass roots campaign community or members of the public. We wonder if this is the reason why proper recommendations are not being made to improve the NHS.
It follows that each consultation process conducted by the Health Select Committee have been based on interviews with the famous. The HSC has failed to interview the grass roots campaign community or members of the public. We wonder if this is the reason why proper recommendations are not being made to improve the NHS.
The issue was first brought to our attention by the excellent if not debonair - Dr Focal Spot in his post on Citizen Juries. This post is worth a read.
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