As predicted, the Secretary of State for Health
has been moved out of harm’s way in David Cameron’s government reshuffle. Also as predicted there is a dearth of wise
cracks about Andrew Lansley’s departure and muted celebration among NHS employees
at the end of tenure for an unpopular minister.
But there have also been some kinder words – such
as the Health Services Journal editor, Alistair McClellan who delivered the veiled
compliment ‘…by a long shot – not the
worst health sec of modern times..’
The Royal College of Nursing have hedged their
bets – saying ‘In challenging times, the
RCN has not always seen eye to eye with Andrew Lansley on the government’s health
reforms. However, we have welcomed the continuous dialogue….’
The
BMA's official statement was a little less tactful with 'The appointment of a new health secretary provides a
fresh opportunity for doctors and government to work together to improve
patient care and deal with the many challenges facing the NHS’
And what exactly do I mean by ‘out of harm’s
way’? Has the harm already been done? Or is moving Lansley to the new post of
Leader of the House of Commons effectively taking him out of the firing line as
problems with the Health and Social Care Bill inevitably escalate. He may well
appreciate the relative calm of organising the government business in the House
as the £20 billion savings target for the NHS becomes reality and the new
Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt sticks his head above the trenches to face
heavier, and better targeted fire.
I wonder how the unbiased should view Andrew Lansley’s
ten years’ devotion to the cause. And be assured that devoted he has been. Misguided,
intransigent, short sighted, tunnel-visioned
– Lansley meant well but got it wrong. He is a politician with ill-conceived strategy
who used flawed benchmarks.
I don’t believe that the Health and Social
Care Bill will destroy the NHS – there are too many good people within the system
to let that happen, but Lansley was the architect of much confusion who handed
the mantel of power to, in the main, unwilling recipients as many GPs’ retirement
has been hastened. His reforms will probably waste more money than they will
save and his unsustainable sound bites outweighed his good ideas.
I wish Andrew Lansley all the best in his new
role and who knows how history will ultimately judge him. But for now, he’s the
Health Secretary who just didn’t listen.
Posts
3 comments:
Health SofS's rarely come out of the job with reputations enhanced - Stephen Dorrell and Ken Clarke being notable recent exceptions.
I'm no particular fan of Mr Lansley but surely no one can argue that (at least amongst politicians) he had the widest knowledge of the NHS and health policy in general. His mistake was not sticking to his guns on his original plans. What we have now is the result of meddling (the Future Forum), lobbying (BMA etc) and undermining from the top (Cameron) - as a consequence, from the highly decentralised approach of the original White Paper, we now have the most centralised NHS in living memory.
Ultimately, it was the wrong plan at the wrong time and was probably continued with to provide his "legacy". Now we all have to make sense of it....
As always you have summed things up beautifully Rob! Alas the muddled mess seems to reflect everything going on in the coalition right now..
I don't necessarily see health as a deal breaker in the Coalition although some of health policy issues emanating from Europe might hasten things along when they come into view....
Post a Comment