HCSA's Executive Committee has issued the following statement in regards to the second reading of the Health and Care Bill:
HCSA has significant concerns about elements of the Health and Care Bill as it stands.
Once again we are confronted with the prospect of a top-down reorganisation with insufficient evidence of its benefits, but considerable questions over its potential negative impact on acute care workforces.
This Bill cannot be the priority for our health services at a time when the NHS faces a new wave of Covid and a mountain of elective care work.
What’s more, the voices of hospital doctors will be completely sidelined under these plans, which raise the prospect of huge changes for staff, local services, and patient care.
We shall be working with fellow health unions to press for revisions to ensure that any changes brought about by this Bill do not damage our NHS.