The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) has called on the government to scrap the proposed NHS Health and Social Care Bill.

The RCM has expressed fears that the concerns they have over the bill have not been dealt with by the government.

Commenting on the RCM’s decision to call for the bill to be scrapped, chief executive Cathy Warwick, said: “This bill is a massively expensive distraction from the challenges that the NHS faces in trying to improve healthcare at a time of severe spending restraint.

“The Royal College of Midwives supports many of the Government’s aspirations for the NHS, such as clinically-led commissioning, greater engagement of service users in their care and more integrated services, but the fact of the matter is that these can all be achieved without the need for this divisive and costly bill.

“Independent analysts have calculated that implementing the provisions in the bill will cost the NHS an extra £2 billion to £3 billion on top of the £20 billion in efficiency savings the NHS has to find in the next four years.

“The Government has failed to present sufficient evidence that its proposals are necessary. They have failed to present evidence that the upheaval will result in an improvement in services to the people of England. And, they have failed to answer the concerns of the people who fear for the future of the NHS under these plans.

“Breaking up what we have, embracing the private sector, and injecting full-blown competition and market forces is not what the NHS needs or what health professionals and patients want.

“We join the growing chorus of voices calling for the bill to be withdrawn, and the proposed reforms stopped in their entirety.”

Posted by Robert Mair on 19/01/2012