British medical journals The BMJ and The Lancet have criticised UK Health Secretary Andrew Lansley's plans for the
reorganisation of the NHS. The government has admitted that £1.7 billion had been set aside to fund the changes in the first year.
Both Lancet and BMJ have published separate editorials criticising the limitation in NHS funding and proposals set out
in a white paper titled 'Liberating the NHS'.
An unsigned editorial in the Lancet demands that Lansley 'tell the truth about NHS cuts' regarding the front line services in
contravention of the Conservatives' pledge to protect them. The editorial mentions a June 2010 document obtained from Oxfordsire
and Buckinghamshire Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, and identifies savings of £5.3 million to be achieved on its budget of £42
million, a 12.6 percent cut in the next four years. According to the editorial, these cuts may lead to a 'reduction in quality of service'
and 'poorer service response'. The journal notes that many medical schools are facing cuts of 14 per cent over the next three
years. The only way these cuts will be realised is through the loss of front line staff.
BMJ also published a highly critical editorial, according to which the government's plans to reorganise the NHS will cost
£2-3 billion and distract from its core business of providing high quality care to patients. In the editorial, Kieran Walshe,
professor of health policy at Manchester Business School, writes that reorganisations happen frequently with the details
sometimes being worked out even as it has been implemented.
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