Quality | 2009.11.22
Andy Burnham told charities at risk in policy shift
Leading health experts round on the health secretary Andy Burnham today, warning him off reversing a Labour programme of modernisation and competition within the health service.
Burnham surprised cabinet ministers and policy officials alike when he announced in September that the NHS would return to the "preferred provider" model of services that existed before the government opened the service to charities and voluntary groups.
Burnham\'s shift in policy now endangers the near £5bn worth of services the third sector currently provides and waters down a commitment in the 2005 Labour party manifesto that the party would consider third-sector providers "on equal terms" with those run in-house.
Department of Health policy had been that "any willing provider" should be considered when commissioning services. Within Burnham\'s new rules, where NHS service providers underperform, the primary care trust will work with the provider, giving them a chance to improve. Where an independent or third sector contract expires, Burnham now wants the PCT to tender openly from the outset, giving NHS providers a chance to bid.
The move was regarded to be an overture to the unions that bankroll Labour as the party readies itself for a tricky six-month run-up to a general election,and Unison welcomed Burnham\'s principle of "co-operation before competition".
But Burnham\'s policy directly contradicts those of his cabinet colleagues Liam Byrne, Tessa Jowell and Ed Miliband.
In a letter organised by the centre-left pressure group Progress, three leaders of charity healthcare providers and the two former government advisers, professors Julian le Grand and Paul Corrigan, warn the health secretary of "alienating" the sectors these other ministers are trying to encourage, saying access to NHS contracts has caused the charity and voluntary sector to double its turnover and increase its workforce by a third over the last 12 years.
Alongside the advisers, Peter Kyle, deputy chief executive at ACEVO; Simon Blake chief executive at Brook and Jeremy Swain, chief executive at Thames Reach, all believe that if Burnham does not reverse his commitment there will be a "detrimental impact on the future stability of the voluntary sector".
They say third sector organisations business plans are now "confused" as to whether these opportunities will continue to exist under a future Labour government.
They write: "The presumption that the private and voluntary sectors should be considered on equal terms with state provided services has increased the capacity of the NHS to provide high-quality services.
"We would like to ask you to rethink your approach to the NHS as the preferred provider of services as we build up to the next election. Now is not the time to alienate important sectors that hold much goodwill and are potentially the key to the citizen-centred, high-quality health services of the future."
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/[...]urnham-health-policy-charities
