Government's NHS Coverup

For a party that claims believes in transparency they did a good job of covering up a report about the NHS today, despite having order by the Information Tribunal to publish the report. The report in question is the NHS Risk Register which lists the possible risks to services and medical care from any changes to the NHS, and it was written as  Health Secretary Andrew Lansley's made his plans to radically reform the Health Service.

Some of the risks, contained in the leaked draft version of the Risk Register, were the risks of rising costs of GP care, poorer response to health emergencies and the high chance that managers might lose financial control of the NHS. For this reason it was felt by many that this document should be released so that the public has an idea of the risk the Government are taking in restructuring the NHS with such radical reforms.

The Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said publication was blocked because governments needed a "safe space" to develop policy and he beleieved that the document would be open to "misinterpretation and misuse", however opponents of the move are accusing the Government of a cover up. Claiming they are hiding the risks of the NHS reforms from the general public.

The Information Tribunal, who oversee and adjudicate on freedom of information requests, believe that the public have a right to such information because of the "exceptional" nature of the NHS overhaul. If found that "there is a very strong public interest in transparency and accountability in relation to the risks involved in introducing the NHS reforms,", before going on to argue that it is in public interest to understand and debate the risks involved. The tribunal said it would provided the public "with a far better understanding of the risks to a national institution which millions depended on".

Head of the Royal College of Nursing, Dr Peter Carter, commented that the refusal to publish the risk assessment was "astonishing" and that "Despite overwhelming opposition, the government is undertaking the most radical restructure of the NHS at the same time as the service faces severe financial challenges." and he went on to say that "the public are only being presented with a partial picture of the NHS reforms". While the Labour former spokesman, John Healey called the government's latest move a "desperate act", before adding "This decision will only fuel doubts and distrust about the government's NHS plans, as people rightly ask: 'What are they hiding from us?'"

The Health Secretary Andrew Lansley continues to claim that the government and his department believe in transparency and that he feels that publishing the report could harm the quality of future advice from civil servants, while the oppersition are claiming that the real reason it publication is being blocked is that the public would never forgive them if they could see the scale of risk they are taking with the NHS. Given the massive opposition from the health care professionals across the board, it would seem that the real reason is more likely to be that the risk register backs up their fears about what the reforms will do to the NHS.

My view is the same as Andy Burnham, the Shadow health secretary, who believes it is a  major step backwards in government transparency and is a step towards  to secrecy and closed government, something Conservative governments and councils are rather good at historically, despite all their fine talk. It is clear that it is in the public interest that the risk register should be published, so the public know what could go wrong with the reforms that are now taking place. Not only it will create a healthy public debate but it will allow health professionals, mangers and processional bodies to know the risks of the reforms and flag up problems early so that action can be taken. 

The fact is, in time like these, we need government that the people can trust, that are open and transparent. Moves like this as well as other recent decisions by the government have made make them look every bit as secretive as past Conservative governments who have pursued have a secret agenda laid out by those have the ear of the Minsters and Prime Minster in private. The government are the servants of the people and they would do well to remember that.