Results of RCP Health and Social Care Bill survey

On the question of respondents’ personal view of the Bill:

• 6% (525) ‘Accept’ the Bill
• 69% (6,092) opted to ‘Reject’ the Bill as it stood
• 22% (1,971) ‘Neither completely accept, nor completely reject’ the Bill
• 3% (290) declined to give an opinion.

However, fellows and members were also asked a supplementary question on how they wished the RCP to proceed;

• 46% (4,099) urged the RCP to ‘Continue to engage critically on further improving the Bill’
• 49% (4,386) wished the RCP to ‘Seek withdrawal of the Bill’
• 4% (393) declined to give an opinion.

Finally, the RCP also took the opportunity to survey fellows and members on their top five concerns related to the Bill and the wider health agenda. The results are as follows:

On the Bill:

1. Training, education and research (5,550 put in their top five concerns)
2. Use of the private sector (5,414)
3. Commissioning by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) (4,905)
4. Choice and competition (4,866)
5. Proposed structural change (introducing the National Commissioning Board, CCG’s, etc) (4,687)
6. Role of secretary of state (3,216)
7. Regulation - the role of Monitor (2,357)
8. Integration (2,153)
9. National Commissioning Board (1,935)
10. Regulation - the role of CQC (1,667)
11. Public health and establishment of health and wellbeing boards (1,490)
12. Private patient cap (1,184)

On the wider health agenda, including the Bill, fellows and members were very concerned about issues affecting current patient care in the NHS such as lack of continuity of care, budget cuts and staff shortages:

1. Lack of continuity of care (4,990 put in their top five concerns)
2. Efficiency savings and reductions in NHS funding (4,642)
3. Clinical staff shortages (4,387)
4. Health reforms (ie the Health and Social Care Bill in England) (4,089)
5. Education, training and research (3,370)
6. Impact of European Working Time Directive/New Deal (2,948)
7. Current structural change (eg abolishing PCTs, SHAs in England etc) (2,759)
8. Quality of commissioning (2,369)
9. Workload in acute medicine (2,352)
10. Management of chronic conditions (2,110)
11. Social care (1,645)
12. Patient safety (1,584)
13. Nursing issues (1,554)
14. Waiting times (586)
15. Revalidation (553)
16. Foundation trust status (459)

RCP president Sir Richard Thompson said:

We believe that this is the single biggest survey among the medical royal colleges, with the highest turnout, and while it shows there is a clear majority of RCP’s fellows and members who would personally reject the Bill, opinion is divided almost equally on whether the RCP should continue to critically engage or now call for the withdrawal of the Bill.

The areas of most concern to RCP fellows and members are the areas on which we have been strongly lobbying government, MPs, peers and other stakeholders: training, education and research; use of the private sector; commissioning by clinical commissioning groups; and choice and competition.

In response to concerns over the wider health issues I am pleased that we have already established a groundbreaking commission on the future hospital that seeks to address key issues that RCP fellows and members have ranked above the Bill as issues of concern, namely: lack of continuity of care and clinical staff shortages. The quality of care that patients receive is clearly at the core of physicians’ concerns and mirrors the key areas of the mission and objectives of the RCP.

I would like to thank all the RCP fellows and members who took time to complete the survey.

 

For further information, please contact Linda Cuthbertson, head of PR, on +44 (0)203 075 1254 / 0774 877 7919, or email Linda.Cuthbertson@rcplondon.ac.uk