Health unions reiterate opposition to Health and Social Care Bill

Health unions have reiterated their calls for the government's controversial Health and Social Bill to be withdrawn.

Coinciding with key debates regarding the bill in the Houses of Commons and Lords, the British Medical Association (BMA), Royal College of Midwives (RCM), Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) have all called for the legislation to be scrapped.

Each of the organisations acknowledged the need for improvements to be made to the NHS, particularly in terms of efficiency savings, but were unanimous in their view that the planned bill has too many unaddressed concerns surrounding it.

Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of the BMA Council, said: "We have pledged to work constructively to develop an alternative – one that has the buy-in of NHS workers and one that will improve rather than wreck the NHS."

This comes after the Royal College of General Practitioners recently wrote to prime minister David Cameron calling for the government to work with the organisation to find an acceptable outcome for the NHS, regardless of whether or not the bill passes.