NHS Report does not reflect pain and frustration of many patients - Burstow

10.38.02am GMT Thu 4th Dec 2003

The Government's report on NHS performance does not reflect the pain and frustration felt by many patients in Britain today, Paul Burstow MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary has said.

Paul Burstow MP said:

"The NHS report does not reflect the pain and frustration felt by many patients in Britain today. Nor does it take account of the fact that many people going to hospital catch other illnesses due to lack of cleanliness in some wards.

"All the report shows is that what gets measured gets done. The problem with the target and tick box culture is it ties the hands of doctors and nurses and fails to reflect local needs.

"Getting the NHS to judge its own success is like getting school children to mark their own exam papers. The acid test is that patients get the right care at the right time. Whitehall targets are part of the problem not the solution to improving quality in the NHS.

"With so many of the figures, statistics and data spewing from the NHS open to question it is impossible to judge what progress is really being made."

Official figures show that GP vacancies have gone up by another 800 this year. A survey by the Department of Health shows there were 3,435 GP vacancies between April 2002 and March 2003 - up almost a third on the previous year. Paul Burstow MP said:

"The rise in GP vacancies casts in sharp relief the complacency of Government Ministers. Quite simply, the GP crisis is heading towards meltdown."