Tories swing axe at the NHS
On 15 January, the NHS Confederation, representing top doctors and medical managers, put out a formal warning in advance of the Government's Health and Social Care Bill, to be published on 19 January. Click here for a longer version of this article . The Government's plans, said the Confederation, are "extraordinarily risky", and could lead to hospitals being closed, treatment being rationed more, and patients suffering. The central plank of the Tory plans is to abolish the Primary Care Trusts (PCTs, the "purchasers" under the NHS's current "purchaser/ provider" structure) and replace them...