In my last email to Jeremy Hunt and health ministers, copied to the Health Select Committee, I wrote:
So far you have evaded the issues I have raised in my previous emails. I am saying that this policy is unworkable, that in some cases it is unsafe; overall, it will impact negatively on the functioning of general practice. If harm comes to patients because of this policy and you and others have wilfully neglected a proper risk assessment, will you be accountable?
I require the following by way of response:
A. I challenge you and your officials at the Department of Health to respond, point by point, to my Submission to the Health Select Committee.
B. In the Department of Health’s media launch of the so-called ‘pilot’ in December 2011, we read: “The pilot, which will begin in April 2012 and last for one year, will also come as a relief to people who are moving home and wish to remain with their preferred practice, and families who would like a practice near to their children’s school.”
This detail of families registering at a practice near their children’s school is repeated in the evaluation Proposal submitted by Professor Mays in May 2012.
So you think this is a good idea? I challenge you and your associates at the Department of Health to answer the following questions about this particular idea:
1. What benefit accrues to a family if they register with a practice near their children’s school? Why would they want to do it?
2. How would this work practically? (Details please, full details of the mechanics of this).
3. Are there any risks or problems with this proposal?
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This is the ‘reply’:
PO Box 16738
Redditch B97 9PT
Tel: 0300 311 22 33
Email: england.contactus@nhs.net
Ministerial Correspondence and Public Enquiries
Department of Health