02.11.11
Turf wars
Did Sir Richard Thompson, president of the Royal College of Physicians, get it in one yesterday?
He told the Health Bill Committee yesterday: “I always say that the harder you work in the health service, the more money you spend and the harder you work in Marks & Spencer, the more money you make.”
He talked of private healthcare companies ‘circling’ – an appropriate term perhaps, considering the growing role of Circle in the health sector – and gave MPs food for thought as he foresaw ‘turf wars’ between monopoly providers and GP consortia.
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley shrugged off such high-powered criticism as the desperate carping of “vested interests” who stand to lose in the reforms, saying he was interested in patient outcomes rather than maintaining current organisational structures.
Will that line hold up over the next few weeks, as more and more experts present their concerns over increased price competition?
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