Consultations on NHS cuts ‘vital’

It is essential that public consultations are held on proposed cuts to NHS services, it has been claimed.

Candy Morris, chief executive of the South East Coast Strategic Health Authority, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that it was “fantastic” that local groups cared about healthcare services, following recent protests against planned cuts.

“I’m not surprised, we all care about NHS and I think what’s really important is that we have this process of building up trust so at least people will feel that they’re listened to,” she told the programme.

Professor Bob Sang of South Bank University told the same programme that NHS managers had to “follow clear principles of natural justice” in its consultations to achieve these aims.

He added that both hospital managers and campaigners must both go into the consultation process without “preferred options” to ensure that there is the adequate trust between both groups needed for the discussions to succeed.