Any Qualified Provider will still start in April 2012
I'm less convinced than Chris Ham seems to be that the latest changes to the Health and Social Care Bill amount to "far reaching modifications of the government's plans". The main reform is the introduction of any qualified provider and this is still going ahead, even if it is in a much more phased way by limiting it to services where there is a tariff and not seeking blanket coverage.
The changes, although welcome and an improvement, are largely about rhetoric or would have probably happened anyway. For example, GP consortia couldn't have functioned without involving other clinicians. The emphasis on competition was potentially misleading, but essentially by opening up provision to any qualified provider that's what will be introduced.
Rapid Response:
Any Qualified Provider will still start in April 2012
I'm less convinced than Chris Ham seems to be that the latest changes to the Health and Social Care Bill amount to "far reaching modifications of the government's plans". The main reform is the introduction of any qualified provider and this is still going ahead, even if it is in a much more phased way by limiting it to services where there is a tariff and not seeking blanket coverage.
The changes, although welcome and an improvement, are largely about rhetoric or would have probably happened anyway. For example, GP consortia couldn't have functioned without involving other clinicians. The emphasis on competition was potentially misleading, but essentially by opening up provision to any qualified provider that's what will be introduced.
(See my personal blog entry)
Competing interests: No competing interests