Commons committee warns of risks in restructuring primary care

doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7533.72-c

BMJ 2006;332:72 (14 January), doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7533.72-c

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Commons committee warns of risks in restructuring primary care

London Andrew Cole

The government�s plans to restructure primary care trusts in England and contract out most of the services provided to patients have been attacked by the parliamentary select committee on health as "ill judged" and "mismanaged."

"The risks of the proposals contained in Commissioning a Patient-led NHS [the Department of Health document outlining the reforms] are high and there is little evidence that the costs will be outweighed by the benefits," it said. "Major restructuring should only be undertaken if there is an overwhelming argument in its favour; in this case there is not."

The committee warns that the reforms—which aim to cut drastically the number of primary care trusts and save �250m ($440m; �370m)—will affect the care of patients and distract managers and staff. On average, it says, organisations take 18 months to recover after restructuring, and it takes another 18 months for benefits to emerge.

"Thus, . . . [Full text of this article]

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