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Four leading professional bodies came out against the healthcare bill and this week urged the House of Lords to reject it. 

STATEMENT PUBLISHED IN THE GUARDIAN

We are the representative and professional bodies representing the majority of doctors, nurses, midwives and physiotherapy staff in the NHS. For months our members have been telling us about the chaotic way the reforms are being implemented on the ground, before the legislation has even been passed (Report, 7 February). It has been an unnecessary distraction when the NHS should be focusing on a far more important issue: finding the £20bn in efficiency savings it needs to make at a time when demand is increasing. We are concerned that the bill will mean we end up with a service where it is harder for patients to receive joined-up care. Eleventh-hour tinkering in the form of amendments is not enough; we call on the government to do the sensible thing – withdraw the bill and work with clinicians to bring stability back to the NHS.

 
The ill-advised bill enters its Lords report stage today. We call upon peers to vote against it.

Dr Peter Carter Chief Executive and General Secretary, Royal College of Nursing, Dr Hamish Meldrum Chairman, BMA Council, Professor Cathy Warwick General secretary, Royal College of Midwives, Dr Helena Johnson Chair, Chartered Society of Physiotherapy

Meanwhile NHS Confederation, the body which currently has PCTs as members and works closely with the new Clinical Commissioning Groups, say on their web site:

The detailed briefing (they have prepared) emphasises to Lords that our members support in principle many of the proposals in the Bill but they continue to have major practical concerns about how the new arrangements will work.

NHS Confed’s key concerns include:

• The need for certainty and stability in the new system as soon as possible
• The need for strong clinical engagement in the reforms and particularly in clinical commissioning. Whatever the outcome of parliamentary debates on the Bill, securing the active engagement of the whole clinical community in the reformed structures will be an urgent challenge for NHS managers and leaders as well as the NHS Commissioning Board and the Department of Health
• While we welcome the creation of Monitor as a specialist sector regulator, this will only benefit the NHS and patients if its new role does not become heavily bureaucratic and burdensome.

MemCom wonders what difficulties the bill will pose for professional bodies and their members. There will likely be many members whose commissioned services will be disrupted threatening their income. If the changes go through, how can membership bodies support their members who are under pressure?