Following reports of a deal being proposed between Tory Chancellor George Osborne and Greater Manchester councils to devolve £6billion of health and social care funding, there's been almost total silence from Salford's civic leaders.
The proposed deal, which would give a Greater Manchester Mayor and his Cabinet control over all spending on hospitals, GPs, mental health services, social care and public health, was hailed by Manchester City Council Leader, Richard Leese, on Twitter as "Really exciting. Gtr Manchester Councils to control local NHS bdgts, integrating health & social care...Health money devolution is good news for Manchester"...
...But while Leese has been bouncing up and down in bed with George Osborne, there's not been a word from Salford City Mayor Ian Stewart, who, along with the leaders of the nine other Greater Manchester councils, should have been, at the very least, highly informed about the deal...Not a word on `DevoNHS' during his address to the full Council meeting on Wednesday. Not a word on Twitter. Not a word on his Facebook site...
Neither was Lisa Stone, Salford Council's Assistant Mayor for Health and Wellbeing, saying or tweeting anything about the NHS devolution. The only Salford councillor who seems to have gone public is John Merry, Assistant Mayor for Children and Young People who, when pushed on Twitter by the Salford Star, wrote "We have not got full detail yet. As you know I believe the more decided locally the better..."
Salford's MPs have been a bit more vocal - "It's excellent news for Greater Manchester, both for the health service and local democracy", said Graham Stringer (Blackley and Broughton)...But, on Twitter, Barbara Keeley (Eccles and Worsley South), who sits on the House of Commons Health Select Committee, pointed to Labour Party Shadow Health Minister Andy Burnham's criticisms of a devolved NHS, writing "I agree with @andyburnhammp - warning about not wanting a 'Swiss-cheese' NHS with cities opting out"...
"For me, this has to be a solution that works for everywhere or that could be offered to everywhere" Andy Burnham explained "Because if you're going to stick to the idea of a National Health Service, you can't have a Swiss-cheese NHS where some bits of the system are operating to different rules or have different powers or freedoms. So I am a bit worried by what I'm hearing. Because it does point to further breakup of the idea of a National Health Service."
While local politicians are ignorant, silent, or split on the issue, the Greater Manchester Referendum Campaign - which has been opposed to the whole undemocratic process of how devolution is being brought to Greater Manchester - didn't mince its words in a press statement last night...
"What is not in any doubt is that those directly affected by the consequences of this week's announcement and of the larger 'Devo Manc' package have been completely excluded and not consulted - and those who've concocted this back-room deal have no legitimate democratic mandate, from the public's point of view, to impose these massive changes" it stated "There has been no public debate, no scrutiny, no carefully thought-through manifesto pledges, no impact assessment the public have had no voice and no vote. Are we expected to accept that this is how decisions affecting millions of us are now made?
"And are we really expected to take it on trust that George Osborne, Jeremy Hunt, Howard Bernstein and Richard Leese, in their cosy back-room laboratory, have discovered a new wonder-drug prescription for our health and that it absolutely must be immediately injected into us for our own good, without our knowing exactly what it contains, how it's supposed to work, what the side effects are and whether we like it or not?" it added "If a real doctor tried this approach they would, rightly, be stopped, struck off and jailed! How can we be sure that Doctor George's marvellous medicine is panacea not poison? Already described as a `poison chalice' and producing a `Swiss cheese NHS', how do we know this made-up MHS [Manchester Health Service] doesn't also contain horse meat or worse?
"Why exactly should such powers be in the hands of an appointed made-up-mayor and 'cabinet' of ten, predominantly male, pale and stale Council leaders?" the Campaign asked "Their attitudes and behaviour so far is surely reason enough for us all to refuse to be bounced into their fast tracked, back-room deal and its consequences for millions of us in Greater Manchester and beyond.
"It is common-sense wisdom that `the devil is in the detail' and that `fools rush in where angels fear to tread' - but this deal smells beyond dodgy and beyond folly" it concluded "This deal is a dangerous threat to our democratic future and a dangerous deal for the future health and wellbeing of millions of us."
Elsewhere, the British Medical Association (BMA) urged politicians to stop messing with the NHS..."The NHS has just undergone unprecedented upheaval" it stated "There must be no more games with our health service and we need to avoid a situation where the NHS moves from being a national to a local political football."
The proposed devolution deal comes as health (NHS) and social care (councils) are being merged, or `integrated', and Dr Peter Carter, Chief Executive and General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) warned that local councils could rip off health money to cover shortfalls in other areas...
"If done properly, there are clear advantages of health and social care services working more closely together" he explained "So many aspects of health are linked to social care issues, such as housing and education, and a smooth transition between health and social care services is better for patients.
"However, nursing staff regularly work at the boundary between health and social care, and know there are challenges when providing free health care and means-tested social care, which particularly affect vulnerable and older patients" he added "There is also a danger of a merger leading to health budgets being spent on council services which do not improve public health. This must not be allowed to happen.
"This devolution would be a truly significant change to the health service" he concluded "It could potentially benefit patients greatly, but without thorough planning by the Government and regional council it runs the risk of being simply another failed reorganisation."
The National Health Action Party co-leader, Dr Clive Peedell, also warned of the dangers of NHS Devolution calling it "yet another depressing milestone in the denationalisation and break up of the NHS...Social care is already mostly privatised and merging with health care at a local level will likely result in further privatisation, means-testing and charging, with more NHS money diverted to private companies."
In Salford, the only health leader to say anything positive was Dr Hamish Stedman, Chair of Salford Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), who stated "This is a genuine opportunity to enhance health outcomes for the people of Greater Manchester by aligning health and social care and public sector reform. Treating a person as a whole rather than by separate conditions is designed to bring long-term benefits and independence."
You would expect the £110,000 CCG Chair to be positive about the deal because the Clinical Commissioning Group stands to rake in loads of money from a devolved NHS, which would swell the Fat Cat count at the CCG substantially.
According to the CCG's annual report for 2013-14, there are already four officers earning between £100,000 and £145,000 while the `lay members' of the CCG are Peel Holdings' Paul Newman (expect Peel Group to start a health wing) who picks up between £5,000 and £10,000 for his efforts; Edward Vitalis, an accountant who works in the private health sector amongst other jobs (picks up between £10,000 and £15,000 for his CCG work); and Brian Wroe, the former Salford Council Assistant Director who has been hanging around health bodies, picking up pay outs since he left the Council. For the CCG gig he's trousering between £5,000 and £10,000.
On the Keep Our NHS Public Facebook group, members were furious about NHS Devolution... "This is terrifying" wrote one "And there will be the usual toxic combination of fools and evil buggers supporting it."
"Transfer of accountability is the motive, while centrally manipulating funding to pull the strings" wrote another, with another horrified resident added: "Do not hail this as a great breakthrough. It is a determined attempt to break up the NHS as a collective health service for the UK and to leave local councils as the last resort for health resources dependent on central government for funds but starved of the money they need! BEWARE! It is the latest shot towards privatisation!"
Meanwhile, in Salford, our political leaders remain silent...
To sign the Greater Manchester Referendum Campaign see https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/people-must-have-right-to-vote-on-devo-manc
For further campaign details also see the Campaign's Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/devolutionreferendumcampaign
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