Dr David Wrigley

So the House of Lords have nearly finished their work on amending the Bill. The Lords haven't altered the Bill to any significant extent - which you wouldn't believe if you listened to the politicians who say they have worked wonders and made their Bill much more palatable. Amazingly LibDem Lords even voted AGAINST their own amendments which seems hard to believe. We have seen a real headache occur for Nick Clegg. His grassroots members - those who tramp the streets every weekend campaigning for the party - are now in effect opposing the Bill. This was after an impassioned plea by Mr Clegg to 'move on' and accept the Bill and work with it. Well they have had their say and it doesn't chime well with Mr Clegg. His party stalwarts said NO to the Bill. How humiliating for the party leadership. The grassroots LibDems must be very worried as they see political annihilation looming on the electoral horizon. Surely the LibDems must see that the enormous professional...

It has been a busy time recently with almost daily (and sometimes hourly) developments on the Health Bill. I very much support doctor led improvements to the NHS (commissioning) but oppose the Health Bill given what it will bring about and how it will damage equitable care. The BMA GP Committee has now formalised its position in opposing the Bill . We have seen Mr Lansley mobbed outside Number 10 Downing St by members of the public unhappy with his Health Bill. Almost every body of health professionals in the NHS are against the Bill now and it seems difficult to believe that the Bill will be foisted on the NHS with such opposition. The Observer has reported how the Royal Colleges are exerting pressure on the coalition and there is even a mention for our sister website - callonyourcollege ! It is a worrying time as to what the impact of the Bill will be on GPs and their commissioning efforts. This excellent paper outlines some major concerns. The Royal College of Physician...

There have been a number of developments this past week or so. The RCGP came out in full opposition to the Health Bill and caused a significant stir. Yes GPs are involved in commissioning but this does not mean they want the Health Bill in place and all that comes with it. The Royal College of Radiologists and Royal College of Physicians have called special meetings to allow their members to debate the Bill. The Chartered Society of Physiotherapists now oppose the Bill as well. I have set up a survey for doctors who are members of a Royal College to anonymously ask their College for a special meeting to allow them to have a view and let their College leadership know what their feelings are about this legislation. This survey can be found here - http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LobbyYourCollege  - and please do pass on the link to your medical colleagues. The more names we can gather the better - and it is anonymous - names will not be published. More and more people and...

The Health Bill is now opposed by the BMA , the NHS Consultants Association , the Royal College of Nursing and the Royal College of Midwives . A further blow has been struck to Andrew Lansley and David Cameron. The extremely influential Health Select Committee (chaired by the former Conservative Health Secretary Stephen Dorrell) has produced a damning report on the dangers of the Health Bill. This must surely be the final nail in the Health Bill coffin. It now has virtually no support outside of the coalition government and it is time the politicians listened to the health professionals. Who do you trust more - your doctor or your politician?

The running is over, the feet are sore, the muscles are tight and the efforts of two people to highlight the dangers of the Health Bill to the NHS has been truly momentous. Bevans Run is over and it has done so much to highlight how the coalition Health Bill will privatise much of the NHS. Here is a photo of them at their final destination - the Dept of Health on Whitehall. Dr Clive Peedell and Dr David Wilson. A large rally took place of around 300 people and listened to speakers talk about how the NHS is under threat by this Bill. I spoke and said that doctors do not support the Bill (BMA Council representing all UK doctors voted to oppose the Bill) and who do you trust - your doctor or your politician? Mr Cameron repeatedly says doctors support these changes - they do not! We also went to Mr Cameron's constituency in Witney, Oxfordshire and delivered a dossier of concerns to his office and here is the photo of us outside the door - from the left Professor Ian Banks (Presid...

Over the past 18 months I have been campaigning heavily for the NHS. Ever since the coalition White Paper was published in July 2010 I knew immediately it was an utter disaster for the NHS. I opposed it completely from the outset. It is a threat to equitable care across England (it is an England only Health Bill). No matter what your background, your income or your status in society is the NHS is there for you at the moment. This may not be the case in the future. Private firms will increasingly move into healthcare, there will be fragmentation of care, increasing bureaucracy, introduction of insurance based systems and personal health budgets which will mean if you can afford to 'top up' your budget and buy better care then you will be able to do so. It is already happening all around us in social care and in care of the elderly. This is why over the past 18 months I have written articles about the damaging Bill, spoken at many meetings to patients and doctors about these cha...

Bevan was a Labour politician who oversaw the introduction of the NHS in 1948. On February 9th 1948 Bevan told Parliament  “take pride in the fact that, despite our financial and economic anxieties, we are still able to do the most civilised thing in the world: put the welfare of the sick in front of every other consideration”. This still rings true today. Perhaps even more so when the fabric of the NHS is under threat by the coalition Health Bill we see before us now. To highlight the major concerns doctors and patients have over these changes a colleague of mine from BMA UK Council, Dr Clive Peedell, is running from the Bevan statue in Cardiff to the Department of Health in Whitehall , London - a distance of 160 miles in 6 days - in January 2012.  On Friday 13th January the run will pass through Witney in Oxfordshire - David Cameron's constituency. I will be speaking at 11am along with Dr Peedell and Dr Ian Banks, President of the European Mens Health Forum. We will highl...