Senior Tories admit NHS reorganisation was worst mistake since being in government
BMJ 2014; 349 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.g6221 (Published 14 October 2014) Cite this as: BMJ 2014;349:g6221
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My uncle Rudolf Flesch might be interested to see the term he coined in 1946, Gobbledygook, used in today's BMJ. [1] Here it is used to describe the unintelligible 2012 Act pushed by Andrew Lansley as an essential "reform" to health. Flesch would approve: an illustration he gave of Gobbledygook was the nonsense dispensed by arrogant Government 'oracles' to people they see as far, far beneath them.
[1] Flesch R. The Art of Plain Talk, New York: Harper & Row, 1946.
Competing interests: No competing interests
Re: Senior Tories admit NHS reorganisation was worst mistake since being in government
To make the highly contentious reforms in the Health and Social Care Act 2012 acceptable to his party Andrew Lansley was dishonest in his claim "The NHS currently has no legal obligation to improve continuously the quality of care"1. In this he was either descending to the depths of political depravity or displaying a degree of ignorance entirely incompatible with that of a Secretary of Health.
Clinical governance which is in the statutes following the Health Act 1999 legislates that "NHS organisations are accountable for continuously improving the quality of their services.".
What is the statistical probability that the similarity of the wording was a pure coincidence?
Instead of being applauded for his demand for quality of care Mr. Lansley should be sued for failure for 'continuously improving the quality of care'. But this is only an example par excellence of a law defunct from the moment it was in the corpus juris. A further example, 'It could be regarded an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the British king or queen’s image upside-down.’
A conspiracy theorist would read more into the Tories disowning Andrew Lansley. Why the change of direction? It is another form of deception parading as altruism. With Labour seen to be taking over 'NHS is safe with us', the exposition of creeping privatisation is hanging perilously over the Tories.
Tony Blair was profligate with his health reforms, David Cameron was deceitful trapping the unsuspecting power hungry members of the profession and the Trust Executives to believe that they were running the NHS.
Where did it all go wrong? NHS needs to be rescued from the politicians.
1. Lansley A . Why legislation is necessary for my health reforms. BMJ 2012;344:e789 (1 February)
Competing interests: No competing interests