Dale Carnegie’s seminal work ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ is still in print after more than 70 years. What a pity then that David Cameron didn’t have a look at it before embarking on yesterday’s ridiculous ‘health summit’ in which he managed to further alienate his critics.
The government really has its back to the wall over its ill-conceived Health and Social Care Bill, so what did our Prime Minister do? He called together representatives of groups that support the proposed changes, but excluded every professional body and trade union that has concerns about the Bill.
Surely the views of the BMA, the Royal College of Nursing and the Royal College of General Practitioners – among many others – fully deserved to be heard. But not according to Dave. He apparently chose to invite only those people who he thought would agree with him and beleaguered Health Secretary Andrew Lansley.
However, I am indebted to The Guardian for a story by Denis Campbell and Nicholas Watt which gives the inside track. It reports that much of the single hour allotted to the much-trumpeted meeting was devoted to the delegates airing the very concerns that had prompted the demonstration at the entrance to Downing Street.
It quotes one delegate as saying: “The idea that those around the table were gung-ho supporters of the government’s NHS reforms didn’t ring true if you were sitting there listening to the issues everyone raised when they had their turn. Pretty much everyone expressed concerns.”
Others pointed out that although their professional bodies had been portrayed as supporting the Bill that was not actually the case.
Very helpfully The Guardian story lists bodies opposed to the Bill (none of which were invited), bodies that are undecided (which were invited) and the three bodies which support the Bill. However, when one looks at the three, it is clear that they are not at all representative of health professionals working in the NHS and even one of them has some reservations.
Last time I check over 150,000 people had signed a government e-petition opposing the Bill. At the same time the Conservatives and Lib Dems are losing ground in the opinion polls. Time for Dave to ditch Andrew and his Bill, methinks.
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