First Post

I thought I would start off by posting a letter I sent to the Rochdale Observer on Tuesday:


As an ex-GP and a satisfied Rochdale Infirmary surgical patient, I have been moved to comment on the coalition government's "reforms" to the NHS after meeting a Pennine NHS Trust patient who has been refused a knee operation. This is because the operation is considered not to be essential although he is considerably disabled and has a sick wife to care for. I notice that in our area attempts are being made to save money by not providing many types of operation that would alleviate considerable suffering such as joint replacements, cataracts and hernias. This is at a time when a reorganisation of the NHS costing £1.7 billion is being undertaken which was not in any manifesto. Power and cash is to be diverted to consortia of GPs who will commission treatment for their patients.  GPs, as I well know, are not trained for this and are not particularly skilled at it either. As is widely acknowledged, this will inevitably lead to private firms increasingly taking over the treatment of NHS patients and profit being put before patients. Let us save our hospital and our NHS.