Shropshire Star comment: End all the confusion over NHS
The time for talk is over. Those charged with delivering better quality health services in Shropshire now have to deliver.
The public have spoken in a major consultation over Future Fit, a proposal that was supposed to herald a brave new dawn for health services. So far, it has done anything but.
Mired in controversy and muddled-thinking, unable to help health providers to deliver better services and a byword for confusion rather than clarity, Future Fit has been an inglorious chapter in the history of our NHS.
Hope dies last, however, and we must look forward as senior health professionals seek to deliver a coherent, long-term package of health reform. They are charged with creating improved conditions for patients, greater stability for staff and more efficient services.
They do not have unlimited time, however. Nor does the public and the Government have unlimited patience. The first shot has been fired across the bows and those in charge of Future Fit know that if they do not deliver, the Government will intervene. It is no more than the public deserve. Our health leaders must be accountable and responsible, they must discharge their duties to a standard the public expects.
The Future Fit process has thrown up myriad issues. There are some concerned that health facilities are not safe, that patients are at unnecessary risk in certain parts of the health service.
There are others who are concerned by the standards of hygiene and yet more who think more should be done to mitigate against avoidable illness that can be contracted by those in hospital beds.
One thing is clear, our health service at a local level has work to do to get up to standard. Many feel there are gaps in provision. Another difficulty of Future Fit is that uncertainty and instability in our local health service has deterred some workers from taking jobs locally, leading to shortages.
It is time for our health managers to revert to simple principles: Providing a service that is free at the point of delivery and in which people can trust. It is time for strategic thinking and long-term planning. And it is time to put an end to the confusion that has caused difficulty.
