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This makes an even more complete nonsense of the NHS Future Forum and the so-called "listening exercise" which has studiously avoided listening to anybody who does not agree with Andrew Lansley.
Now it is clear that David Cameron for one won't be listening to the Forum either -- even if it does eventually produce any findings.
It seems that the whole Forum exercise is simply to fill in time until after the local elections, with a view to terrifying the LibDems into dropping their objections to the Bill for fear of triggering an election that could all but wipe them out in Parliament.
Meanwhile before the current lot of changes is even passed into law, Cameron is drawing up the next top-down "reforms" with Lord Cheesy Wotsit and a bunch of the people that helped New Labour squander billions on extra management, the nonsensical fraud of "World Class Commissioning", ISTCs and other such unwanted, expensive and unsuccessful ventures into market-style system.
This type of ideological policy making leaves no room for evidence, or weighing up the experience of previous failures: once again they are reinventing the flat tyre.
Meanwhile as this sideshow continues, and mad scientist Lansley dabbles with his test tubes in a padded room, financially desperate Trusts and PCTs are slashing services and staffing levels to the bone in a hell-for leather attempt to generate an unprecedented, and probably impossible level of "efficiency savings" -- as Monitor tells them they are not cutting anywhere near enough, and the private sector gets set to cash in.
None of the important things are discussed, and the biggest areas of wasteful spending go unchallenged, with management consultants ruling the roost: more PFI anyone?

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