09.03.11
Monitoring every word carefully
Are doctors right to jump up and down on Monitor’s chairman for suggesting experience gained in the utilities and telecoms privatisations could have a bearing on reforming the NHS?
Many clinicians and lovers of the NHS instantly recoil at the comparison and may read a lot into David Bennett’s use of language – describing those formerly nationalised industries, alongside the health service, as ‘monolithic’ and ‘monopolistic’.
But now that the spectre of price competition is fading, thanks in part to doctors’ campaigning and lobbying efforts, there remains the thorny issue of competition in general. People like Dr Bennett, and most of the people in government over the past few decades, clearly think it can improve the quality of care, despite most people working within the NHS seeming to reject this.
Considering that increased competition is an inevitability, unless the Coalition falls, is there nothing at all to learn from previous experience?
Tell us what you think – have your say below, or email us directly at [email protected]