Blair chairs UK health summit to tackle NHS reform

A summit chaired by the prime minister, Tony Blair, has agreed key priorities for modernisation of the NHS amid angry claims from doctors' leaders that their profession has been made a scapegoat for failures in the service.

Health ministers from the English government and the devolved assemblies in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland met Mr Blair and his advisers for two hours on 5 June to exchange ideas for improving health care.

Among the priorities agreed were to develop measures to end “postcode rationing,” which is created by regional variations in the provision of health services; to take steps to improve coordination between health authorities and social services to free up hospital beds occupied by patients who need care and support in the community; and to plan better for winter peaks in demand.

The action agreed will form part of the government's 10 year blueprint for reforming the NHS, due to be published in July. A public consultation exercise is also under way; 12 million questionnaires have been distributed to users of the NHS asking them to indicate how they would like theservice to change.

The summit was partly overshadowed by a fierce political row between doctors' leaders and Alan Milburn, the health secretary for England, who asserted that the reform programme must tackle the “consultant is king” culture in the NHS. He insisted that the investment of an extra £2bn ($3.2bn), earmarked this year for better health care, must coincide with a radical overhaul in working practices.

The NHS Confederation, which represents managers, has also called for the development of more patient oriented staffing of the service, in place of the “professional tribalism” which it believes often dominates current arrangements. It wants a new pay structure and the reform of consultants' merit awards, which it believes to be outdated.

Dr Ian Bogle, chairman of the BMA, accused the health secretary of “constantly seeking to set doctors against nurses, and doctors against patients.” He added: “If the government wants to get the best out of the medical profession it should recognise that value rather than denigrate it.”

Mr Milburn later adopted a more conciliatory tone when he responded to the BMA's onslaught. “The government recognises that the overwhelming majority of consultants do a brilliant job for theNHS,” he said.

12m questionnaires distributed