BMA welcomes David Cameron’s NHS pledges

The British Medical Association (BMA) has responded positively to David Cameron's pledges to make changes to planned NHS reforms.

In a speech to NHS staff in London this week, the prime minister made a number of commitments to amending the details of the government's Health and Social Care Bill in the wake of the recent listening exercise.

Among the changes proposed was a greater role for hospital doctors and nurses in clinical commissioning, as well as the establishment of "clinical senates" to evaluate care integration on a broad scale.

BMA council chairman Hamish Meldrum said this shows that Mr Cameron has taken some of the concerns of the industry into consideration.

However, he questioned the prime minister's continued defence of the benefits of competition, something which the BMA believes will ultimately be damaging to care quality.

"As always, it will be the reality of the changes that is important," he added.

This comes after the organisation called for an abolition of planned performance-related payments for GP shadow consortia earlier this month, suggesting this idea could damage trust in doctors.