The leader of Britain's hospital consultants will warn today that patients are suffering as a result of misguided NHS reforms and the "shocking incompetence" of health ministers. Paul Miller, chairman of the BMA consultants committee, will blame the government for wasting billions of pounds on introducing competition between the NHS and private sector.
He will tell the consultants' annual conference in London: "Care is suffering, jobs are disappearing, patients and staff are paying the price. If a patient gets worse instead of better with treatment, then it's time to figure out whether the diagnosis or the treatment is wrong. Something is going very badly wrong with these health policies. It's time to call a halt."
His broadside will coincide with a report from Sir Ian Carruthers, acting NHS chief executive, on the NHS's accounts for the financial year to March. They will show the end-year deficit was significantly less than the £623m forecast after the first six months. The figure was being withheld until today. Sir Ian will admit the state of health service finances is a "blot on the landscape." But he will insist that the problem has been exaggerated.
He will promise to tighten financial discipline by ordering every trust to publish quarterly accounts showing how well they are managing their resources. He admitted last night: "There is still a long way to go before the NHS is totally clear of debt."
Dr Miller will blame the deficits on "bad policies and shocking incompetence inflicted on the whole service from the top, from Whitehall." He will call for a moratorium on contracts for NHS patients to be sent to private treatment centres.
Andy Burnham, the health minister, said: "Dr Miller's skewed analysis is flatly contradicted by the NHS chief executive's annual report. It shows that patients are receiving better quality care faster than ever before ... and the vast majority [of trusts] are staying in balance."
The signal from Downing Street yesterday was that Tony Blair wants the NHS to form even closer relationships with the private sector. He invited the captains of British industry for a breakfast seminar to ask advice on how to improve the management of NHS foundation hospitals.
Richard Lapthorne, chairman of Cable and Wireless, told him to get rid of anyone on a trust board "sympathetic to the whingers among the staff who never want to change". The next move should be to fire one-third of the managers who were probably opposed to the board's policies."Otherwise you will all look back in five years and say we did everything we could, but nothing changed."
Mr Blair replied: "I think that is absolutely right ... There is a huge cultural change that is necessary, which is to break the myth that public service and proper business management operate in two separate spheres, with contradictory value systems. That is where you can help us. You are right: it is going to be difficult."
The aim of the breakfast was to encourage FTSE 100 companies to provide financial acumen and strategic planning to help foundation trusts thrive in a more competitive NHS. Mr Blair said: "We have got to get away from the notion of a battle of values. Because the public services do not operate in the same way as private sector business, it is absurd to say they don't have to deal with some of the same issues: how the organisation is run; how money is spent; how you procure; how you employ people productively."
