THE leader of the UK's doctors yesterday attacked the Prime Minister and the Westminster government, warning them not to make doctors the scapegoats of the economic downturn.
Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of the British Medical Association, said the NHS and medical profession was facing some of its biggest and most serious challenges, as funding for public services was squeezed.
But he warned that the NHS and doctors mus
t not be made to suffer with cuts in staff and services for the mistakes made by politicians and bankers.
The BMA's annual conference in Liverpool yesterday also heard warnings about the effects of the target-driven culture on patient care.
Dr Meldrum told doctors that cuts in finances would be a challenge to the NHS. He added: "That, combined with a tainted and hamstrung political system, a devastating loss of trust and confidence in politicians, as a result of their perceived greed and corruption, and a government and a Prime Minister who simply seem to be clinging on to power, does not make for a happy state of affairs."
He said he knew doctors would face pressure on their incomes, the medical workforce and pensions, adding: "We are not going to allow doctors to be the scapegoats for the failures of the politicians or the bankers."
The Prime Minister's spokesman said: "When we make reforms in the health service, they won't please everybody but our focus is on the patients."
The conference yesterday also debated the situation at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, which was condemned for "appalling" standards of care that led to patients dying.
Much criticism was aimed at the focus on targets at the trust, clinical and financial, which led to problems with patient care being missed. A report in March estimated that 400 to 1,200 more people died than expected in the region in a three-year period.
Dr Meldrum said: "We suspect that (the situation at] Mid Staffordshire is not isolated. We need to ensure we have a climate nationally and locally where people are not afraid to speak out where they see standards of care affecting care of patients."
The BMA has launched a "whistleblowing" phone line for doctors who want to warn about problems in their workplace.
Dr Jane Lolley, deputy chairwoman of the BMA's Scottish consultant committee, said Scotland needed to be wary of the same situation arising in its hospitals.
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "The NHS in Scotland works to deliver challenging targets to make patient care better, tackle health inequalities, provide faster access and more efficient services.
"Patient safety is always at the forefront, which is why clinical need will always take precedence over targets and standards."
Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said: "Today's announcement shows that Gordon Brown has learned nothing.
"The 'patient entitlements' are in fact targets which already exist. There is nothing substantive to empower patients or professionals. It's little wonder that confidence has been lost".
