NHS shakeup spells 'unprecedented chaos', warns Lancet editor

NHS shakeup spells 'unprecedented chaos', warns Lancet editor:

Dr Richard Horton predicts patients will die as a result of health and social care bill's focus on competition over quality
The NHS will be thrown into chaos by the government's shakeup and patients will die as a result, the editor of a medical journal has written.
Dr Richard Horton, the editor of the Lancet, called for a concerted campaign to overturn the health and social care bill which finally completed its parliamentary passage this week.
Horton also complained about a "failure" of leadership by professional medical bodies which did not prevent the coalition proceeding with its plans.
"We are about to see a phase of unprecedented chaos in our health services," he wrote on the Red Pepper website.
"Those of us who opposed the bill should not gloat as this confusion takes hold.
"People will die thanks to the government's decision to focus on competition rather than quality in healthcare.
"The coming disaster puts even greater responsibility on us to overturn this destructive legislation."
Horton accused Labour of being "slow to respond" to the government's "assault" on the NHS and said an inquest was needed into "the abysmal failure of medical 'leadership'.
"Early and united opposition would have seen off the Bill long ago. Instead our leaders, in trade unions and professional bodies, saw 'opportunities' and decided they could work with it on our behalf.
"When they were finally persuaded to see the dangers, their policy changed to seeking 'significant amendments', despite the fact that the government showed no sign of conceding any."
The bitter 14-month parliamentary battle over the coalition's NHS changes finally came to an end this week after the government comfortably fended off a desperate 11th-hour attempt by Labour to delay the legislation.
MPs then approved the last amendments – leaving the way clear for royal assent to be granted before parliament starts its Easter recess next week.
The NHS shakeup has threatened to drive a wedge between the coalition partners ever since it was announced by the Tory health secretary, Andrew Lansley.
It is intended to give GPs greater control over NHS budgets, reduce bureaucracy and increase patient choice.
But furious opposition from professional bodies and Lib Dem activists led the prime minister, David Cameron, and the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, to take the highly unusual step of "pausing" the legislation last year.
Despite accepting more than a thousand amendments – including limits on competition and private-sector involvement – the government has failed to win over many health workers. The Guardian