The Lib Dems have suddenly decided that they are against the wholesale disruption and privatisation of the NHS. Who would have thought that voting down electoral reform and putting 600 of their councillors out of their seats would lead them to become champions of our health service? All I can say is that the more we vote them out the more they listen, so carry on everyone.
Now Lib Dems have suddenly decided that the NHS reforms are evil and they will veto them if they aren’t completely changed. Cornwall MP Andrew George has even demanded that the bill is withdrawn altogether. Funny that the Lib Dems all voted it through when the vote came up in the House of Commons. In Bristol we have our own health expert Cllr Jon Rogers executive member for tribalism. Here is his analysis of the health reforms published last year when Lib Dem policy was to break up the NHS. To be fair I have reproduced this in full.
Opinion: NHS reform on right track
By Jon Rogers | Published 17th December 2010 – 2:55 pm
I am a GP and Executive Member for Care and Health on Bristol City Council. I have been a GP for nearly 30 years, but I took on the Cabinet role on Tuesday 11th May 2010 – the day the astonishing Coalition was formed between Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs in London.
That Coalition has made some bold proposals for our NHS, and for the way that the NHS works with patients, public health, and local authorities. These proposals drew together themes that Liberal Democrats have been campaigning on for many years such as putting patients at the heart of the NHS, focussing on improving outcomes rather than hitting targets and freeing professionals from bureaucracy and central control.
The NHS White Paper caused quite a stir, and it has been brilliant to be involved, both as a GP working with colleagues to ensure robust and accountable GP commissioning arrangements and as a councillor working with the local NHS, public health and patient groups to help develop a shared vision for future health services in the Bristol region. There are questions and concerns, but overall these reforms are going in the right direction and command significant and sometimes unexpected support, based as they are on work done by successive Governments of different political hues.
The Government has now published their response to the White Paper consultation entitled “Liberating the NHS: legislative Framework and Next Steps” and the fingerprints of Liberal Democrat policy and the input of Liberal Democrat Health Minister, Paul Burstow, are clear for all to see!
An NHS based on principles of freedom, fairness and local decision accountability. An NHS that does not regard the status quo as satisfactory, but wants more responsive, improved services for our patients and one that is on a sustainable financial footing. I accept that under Labour, the spending on the NHS is now on a par with spending in European countries, but the red tape and central bureaucracy has meant we don’t yet have the best European standards of care. We can do better.
It is good to see some specific Liberal Democratic policies confirmed in this response.
(1) An extension of councils’ formal scrutiny powers to cover ALL NHS funded services, including public services, private services and voluntary sector services. All providers will be accountable and need to provide information or attend scrutiny meetings to explain themselves.
(2) An enhanced role for Local Authorities, leading with elected members, to deliver improved strategic coordination of commissioning across NHS, social care, and related childrens’ and public health services. What an opportunity for truly joined up thinking!
(3) Development of patient input and involvement by building on the work of the LINks (local involvement networks) and supporting Health Watch to become the local consumer champion for patients.
(4) Freedom to commission services from “any willing provider” – we need the flexibility and choice to deliver the best services to patients at the best price and quality and that may come from third sector or private providers as well as NHS providers.
We have the resources, the organisations, the hospitals, the practices and above all the people to make these reforms one of the most positive landmarks of this Coalition Government. These are challenging times, but we must not be afraid to be bold and decisive and make it happen.
Cllr Dr Jon Rogers represents Ashley Ward on Bristol City Council,
To be fair, many members of the Lib Dems as a party – if not those MP who have felt bound by Cabinet collective responsibility – have been publicly concerned about the proposed NHS reforms. The party’s Spring Conference in March supported a motion tabled by the Social Liberal Forum which mandated the leadership to seek substantial changes to the NHS bill long before last week’s elections. And Andrew George has been pretty much consistent in his opposition from the start.
I wrote the following blog post in direct response to the Lib Dem Voice post by Cllr Rogers that you reproduce above:
and it pretty much disagrees with the thinking behind the policy.
So this isn’t entirely a recent phenomenon – it is something that has been building for a while. That isn’t to deny that the very poor election results mean that the momentum is increased.
Any topic on Jon Rogers is like a red flag to a bull around me but I’m too ill right now because of the situation his mismanagement caused to be totally on top of that. And I’ve been getting bored of saying the same old shit.
Jon Rogers hides a below average IQ behind parrot like sloganising. It gives me brain damage just reading through his kneejerk enthusiasms about things he hasn’t got the faintest clue about.
Jon Rogers is so caught up in his own blathering he doesn’t see the damage he causes. His ineptitude made my situation much worse which creates an additional burden on health and welfare services. Years of business growth opportunity down the drain and, maybe, even costing me 10 years of my life.
Not a peep from Jon Rogers (or Stephen Williams) about billionaires whooping it up while people his party like to style as “welfare scroungers” get their faces smashed into the floor. I see he’s too gutless to waive his £25,000 expenses so it’s one rule for Jon and another rule for the rest of us, eh?
My situation is so desperate because of Jon Rogers I might just have a full-on nervous breakdown and gender reassignment. Then I can stand as Fifi Gaga Loopy Loo for the Monster Raving Loony Party. It sounds like more workable than anything Rogers cooks up.
Rogers is the master of effortless stupidity.
Doesn’t sound like an endorsement he’ll be quoting on his next focus leaflet
It’s difficult to top calling Rogers a master of effortless stupidity.
I’ve never mentioned this before but I was a Liberal member for a brief while and the only reason I never grabbed the candidacy for this seat was I felt so bad about being unemployed. But for that Rogers may never have got in.
Mostly I’m an independent sort of guy and hate ideologues and party tribalists. Can’t see myself joining Labour for a few reasons:
1. I’m probably the most radioactive candidate in the city.
2. Labour are too statist, slow, and out of touch.
3. Labour want your soul.
4. Labour hang you out to dry.
5. I’m lazy.
Reasons for:
1. I get business, entertainment, and the poor.
2. I don’t lowball ambitions.
3. My mere existence scares the shit out of Rogers.
4. I have a plan.
5. I know stuff.
So should I come out of the closet, or not bother?
Lib Dems have been raising concerns about some aspects of the NHS reforms from Day One.
Paul Burstow MP has been working very hard to ensure that the Liberal Democrat aspirations are delivered within those reforms.
I was writing about the positives last year, particularly from a Bristol perspective. Thank you for drawing attention to my piece. I stand by my words, but I have no problem with the Lib Dem conference motion on the topic and the resulting “pause”. That pre-dates AV referendum and local elections.
Liberal Democrats continue to have a significant influence on local and national issues.
No surprise to see Jon Rogers peddling more corporate ass kissing blather and facing both ways.
Hmmm. Isn’t this the same Jon Rogers who ignores carefully collected evidence, turns a blind eye to police cover-ups, and who whines that he’s “only one man” when it comes to doing something? This is THE CHUMP who now thinks he’s fit to LEAD THE COUNCIL when he claimed that he’s only fit for jobs like PAINTING FENCES. What sort of inept flip-flopping two-faced liar is that, eh?
Did I say I walked right past him the other day? The lanky moog was bending over like a crane stuffing mail in someone’s letter box. The BIG BOY had a silly simpering grin on his face like he could run back to mummy and say it was MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.
By the time Jon’s seat is next up a box of dead rats and stuffed parrot could beat him although I hear the smart money is on the glass of water.
Wassup, Jon. Got nothing to say? No acknowledgement you got it wrong like you’ve claimed before? Oh, woops. I’ve just caught you LYING AGAIN. Do you want to say sorry for all the misery you’ve caused? Nah. Your ass would just blowtorched again.
WHAT A PUTZ!
You raise a good point which arises from Britain lacking a constitution where our legal framework relies upon precedent. I am a big fan of Thomas Paine and think we should have a written constitution and a bill of rights.
Just read Bodger Rogers on Twitter. Screeching u-turn calling for more support for people who need help and carers. This after slam dunking Bodger Rogers the other day and him saying my call for a one time rise in social services funding was stupid.
Bodger Rogers is still ass kissing a heavy handed police force that can’t handle the little things, giving poorly managed housing associations sweetheart property deals, and kicking people on welfare with loony tunes economics.
It looks like Bodger Rogers has rumbled what an idiot he’s been looking recently. But I know he’s bellowing into his keyboard and cacking himself. The pretend authority is just a mask over his irresponsibility.
Just read about Labour’s Liam Byrne screeching u-turn on “welfare reform”.
I got the power…
Phwaw. Feels good.
Somebody shut Mark Bradshaw up. His call to “think big” on transport is confusing volume and organisation. There’s other things that need to be done before this scheme makes sense.
I could pitch this in under a minute but Labour aren’t interested in unemployed welfare scroungers who think they can do a better job than them.
Tell me I’m wrong.
Professor Steve Field slates the Tory NHS reforms which does highlight Jon Rogers lack of understanding and how he puts party loyalty before constituents.
Barbara Janke has always been a bit dizzy and an incredibly poor judge of character. If she’s leaving Rogers in the role then bang goes the atom of sympathy I had for her.
Who the fuck is Peter Hammond? So Labour snatch defeat from the jaws of victory by appointing an old lag as leader to go up against the weakest most unpopular council going? Un-fucking-believable.
Labour don’t want to win. Labour don’t have a plan. Labour don’t get voter aspirations.
Well, I’m glad I’m not like you lot. I’d rather be fucking dead.
Roger’s basically thinks he can run the NHS in Bristol by sitting in two positions, one as Executive member for public health and the other as a GP. This lust for power has clouded his judgement, that and his steady move to the right, he often spouts tory rhetoric on twitter.
“If the Labour Party could select a king, he would be a feminist, a Temperance crank, a Nonconformist charlatan, an anti-sport, an anti-jollity advocate as well as a general wet blanket.”
— Ben Tillet, trade unionist.
Ben Tillet, born in Easton, big docks organiser in London. Left wing in his early days but came out in favour of WWI. MP for Salford.
I’m just letting off steam and throwing a few handwaves around.
You’re right that Rogers is power crazed. It really is his defining motivation.
No idea about Ben Tillet. Just discovered the quote when I was thinking of Hammond’s appointment.
Hmmm. We’ll see.
Sometimes it’s not what you’re doing but the thing you’re not doing that you should be doing that matters.
…It’s not very often I say nothing.
Just read something about Cameron blustering over the NHS. Some lies, “duh” moments, and not giving credit where it’s due. His usual blundering economically illiterate self-serving act. No “change” there.
Steve Ballmer of Microsoft is a similar blundering chum of big business and has halved Microsoft’s share price since taking over. He’s now throwing away $8.5 billion in capital by paying over the odds for Skype.
There’s no innovation here. It’s all closed off thinking and stale. Interestingly the biggest issue isn’t getting rid of monkey boy Ballmer but who his replacement will be. Microsoft, like the Tories, are very short of talent.
Squire Rogers is hemming and hawing on Twitter over letting a children’s adventure playground stay open. Doubntless he retains a breezy indifference to neighbours from hell. Am I the only one in thinking he’s got his priorities the wrong way around?
It looks like Roger’s is trying to be a superhero – The Inside Outside Talking Out of His Backside Man. Oh, great. Someone should do a poster.
Hold on to your hat. I might be doing a u-turn.
I actually looked into gender reassignment on the NHS and a few things stand out. EU law stipulates it’s a human right but it’s not enshrined in UK statute only case law. NHS policy is at best a “miserable little compromise”. The treatments, process, and support available to patients isn’t anywhere near the “best practice” they claim. It’s top heavy and process driven. It’s almost a complete waste of time unless the patient has the money to go private. Not going to happen is it?
If you look into this you’ll see how utterly useless the NHS is and how many patients are treated in a ritualistic and humiliating way.
Unless Labour officially put their big guns behind delivering “NHS products” that are worth talking about I have to ask (again) what is the point of voting Labour?
Paul, I totally agree we need a written constitution. I’ll have to read up on Thomas Paine to see where you’re coming from. Some of their pragmatic philosophers were very good.
Labour totally dropped this on ball before the election. The media and the people were screaming for it but Straw got in the way just like he got in the way of outdoor cremation. In contrast what the CONDEMS have on offer is bollocks in comparison.
Last night I was having an online chat with some American transgender woman who’s a Democrat and heavily involved in politics. Can’t remember the exact details but she caused a shitstorm a couple of months ago when she caught the right wing trying to “fix” the system.
The conversation rumbled on to this LGBT thing (what a mouthful) and she raised some points that I agreed with. The T issue gets hijacked by sex and the umbrella of a cause. It’s brand contamination from ‘the scene’ and political agitation. That’s even before you get into porn which gets seriously tacky.
In light of the NHS issues I mentioned earlier I’ve also been reviewing local government and the military. You find the same arrogant and penny pinching nonsense there. The “military covenant” is a load of bullshit. The system including the military, health, and government should just intrinsically work.
1. Mainstream transgender and separate it from the lesbian, gay, bisexual thing.
2. Provide best of class products and services.
3. Stop being cheap.
Get with the program tsz. No separatism – it’s LGBTQIA now …
Trasgender/gender reassigned is covered by equality act 2010.
By the way were you aware that there was a transgender Labour Councillor ten years ago David Spry became Rosalind Mitchell
British law hasn’t caught up with EU law on transgender healthcare. If you checked as I have you’d know this was true and that NHS healthcare provision is illegal as it currently stands. That’s just a fact and no politician is challenging this.
Transgender issues aside Mitchell wasn’t a great councillor. It wouldn’t be very tactful of me to comment any more on that.
Just because Labour had a transgender councillor doesn’t mean Labour own the issue or are even aware of the issues or are doing something credible about it in a timely fashion.
This is an issue you can put Williams and Rogers on the carpet for because things aren’t just bad they’re getting worse on their watch. It’s an open goal. So why aren’t Labour putting the ball in the net?
“Just because Labour had a transgender councillor doesn’t mean Labour own the issue or are even aware of the issues or are doing something credible about it in a timely fashion.”
Too right. The 80s Identity Politics did no-one any good. I also seem to remember that Labour women’s Establishment weren’t exactly kind or helpful to Ms Mitchell.
Lib Dems have plenty of LGBTQIA members around the uk, even councillors and a transexual mayor, but does it help any?
I wasn’t claiming her as a talisman just engaging in a bit of did you know? Clearly you did
Well I think that Nick Clegg has got this one seriously wrong. The NHS desperately needs price competition. And profits: http://www.bruceonpolitics.com/2011/05/19/nick-legg-gets-it-very-wrong-on-the-nhs/