Sir – “Sleepwalking into the market” was the title of the editorial in the latest British Medical Journal and I fear that it is very likely that few doctors and even fewer of the public realise just how radical are the changes to the NHS that ahave been forced on us.
Regulations which would have compelled local commissioning groups to put all services out to tender by private companies were recently withdrawn by the Government after an outcry by thousands of doctors and over 350,000 signatories to a petition but the amended regulations still do not change the underlying intention.
Commissioning groups will still feel under pressure to put services out to competition, due to strictly defined processes and the fear of legal challenge from rejected private providers if they choose the NHS provider that they and local people would prefer.
These regulations are not going to be debated in Parliament unless enough MPs sign an Early Day Motion to request the debate. I have written twice to my MP, Nicola Blackwood, asking her to request a debate but have had no reply. Whether they think private companies should provide their local health care or not, I am sure your readers would want the principle discussed in Parliament, especially since health ministers have previously assured us that local commissioning groups would not be required to use competition.
I hope you will publicise this issue and I hope readers will ask their MPs to debate it in Parliament.
Richard Thorne, Retired GP, Abingdon