NHS changes: PM to host talks on implementing plans

The prime minister is to convene a meeting of healthcare professionals later to discuss the government's highly contentious changes to the NHS. Opponents of the bill including the British Medical Association and Royal College of Nursing complain they have been excluded from the event. Labour accused David Cameron of closing the door of No 10 to its critics. The government said Monday's event was one of a series of meetings and a range of groups had been invited. A Downing Street spokeswoman said it was being held "to discuss implementation of the health reforms with representatives from a range of national healthcare organisations and clinical commissioning groups". The Health and Social Care Bill proposals include giving GPs control of much of the NHS budget and opening up the health service to greater competition from the private and voluntary sector. Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham criticised the prime minister for discussions about the implementation of plans not yet on the statute book. "It may sound like a small point to David Cameron but I wish to remind him that he doesn't yet have Parliament's permission to implement reforms nobody wants and for which no-one voted," Mr Burnham said. "This has all the hallmarks of an event thrown together in a last-ditch desperate bid to shore up collapsing support for the bill. "It would appear to be so last-minute that a number of important organisations have been left off the invite list, or maybe it's because the PM wouldn't like what they've got to say." 'Constructive talks' On Friday, members of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health joined several Royal Medical Colleges, including the Royal College of GPs, in calling for the bill to be scrapped. Unions, including the British Medical Association (BMA), the Royal College of Nursing and the Royal College of Midwives are among those who also want it to be withdrawn. In a statement about Monday's meeting, the BMA said: "It would seem odd if the major bodies representing health professionals were not included." BBC political correspondent Iain Watson said: "The government are confident the health bill - albeit in a much amended form - will survive its passage through Parliament; but it will be a trickier procedure to put it into practice." The description of the meeting as "constructive talks" was "not very encrypted code for saying there's little point holding discussions on how to implement changes with groups, such as the BMA, which are already implacably opposed to them". But our correspondent added: "Even amongst some of those who in principle support the reforms, there are worries." He said the NHS Confederation would be attending the talks and would warn the prime minister he could face "severe difficulties in bringing about a complex reorganisation of the NHS unless he has the support of more health service staff".