The government’s new 10-year health plan consultation “is either going to be a great big piece of typical NHS consultation nonsense…or it’s actually going to be a genuine consultation that listens to people and makes some proper changes”, Labour MP for Chelsea and Fulham Ben Coleman has said.
“At the health committee we are going to do all that we can to make sure it’s the latter” and “actually leaves a real change”, he added.
Last week, the Department of Health and Social Care (DH) launched a months-long “rallying cry” to the nation – both the public and NHS workers – for ideas to help “fix” the NHS.
Read more: NHS consultation ideas: ‘National’ pharmacy, NHS bulk-buying and 111 pharmacists
Coleman, who made the comments at a healthcare forum on “shaping the future of the NHS” yesterday (October 28) hosted at the House of Commons by Sigma Pharmaceuticals and pharmacist Professor Mahendra Patel, said that he has “dealt with the NHS a long time”.
The comment comes as parliament today (October 29) announced that Coleman, along with six other Labour, one Liberal Democrat and two Conservative MPs, has been selected as a member of the relaunched health committee.
Read more: Pharmacists urged to ‘submit ideas’ for 10-year plan to ‘fix NHS’
Coleman’s claim came amid concerns about the “massive consultation” from psychiatrist JS Bamrah, who spoke as a panelist at the event.
“I just worry that we are fantastic at producing more and more paperwork, but the doing doesn’t really happen very much,” he said.
“There’s lots of evidence of how to fix the NHS,” he added.
Consultation concerns
Last week, C+D analysis of some 6,562 ideas submitted within days of the launch found that suggestions for the pharmacy sector ranged from earnest to ill-thought-out.
One submission suggested a “national pharmacy”, another the NHS bulk-buying of medicines and another simply asked why there were “so many pharmacist millionaires” – pondering “how [do they] get that rich selling pills?”
Reacting to the announcement, National Pharmacy Association (NPA) chief executive Paul Rees warned that “the reality is that many pharmacies could be forced to close down before the 10-year plan is even published in spring 2025”.
Read more: Landmark state of the NHS report touts ‘huge potential’ of pharmacists
Independent Pharmacies Association (IPA) chief executive Dr Leyla Hannbeck urged “the entire pharmacy community to get behind this message and engage with the government’s consultation”.
And Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) England chair Tase Oputu said that “the 10-year health plan must consider how pharmacists can be enabled to support the best use of medicines across the system”.
Last month, Lord Darzi’s landmark independent investigation of the NHS in England was published, touting the “huge potential” of pharmacists.
