So the doctors told them in advance they'd quit, but they still gave the conract to a company rather than the NHS trust.
Which genius made that decision?

well done them doctors ...

Well isn't that deliciously hypocritical of you.

Didn't get round to posting my thoughts yesterday.

1. This is something that's going to become more predominant in the health service. The nice easy bits that can be cut off from the NHS will be cut off from the NHS. Stuff like sexual health in some areas is now run by private services. Low running costs, lots of turnover, low complexity, lots of profit.

2. In this situation, the "profit" is in the standard clinic setting. There is no money in emergency dermatology (there are very few conditions that are emergency). So if a patient comes in with a life-threatening condition eg SJS, they're fudged. This occurs throughout the NHS - simpler procedures for example offset the cost of more expensive ones.

3. As mentioned in another thread, nurses are cheaper than doctors, so more of these privatised services will be run by nurses. It means no job security for doctors as it once did. There was already a shortage of dermatology doctors in the area. That means loss of specialist knowledge.

4. If the private company can't sort out the patient's problem, the problem will either: resolve itself, stay as it is, or get worse. If it gets worse, where will the patient end up? In hospital. So the NHS will have to mop up problems caused by the private companies. This might be mitigated by charging private companies for any cock-ups. Unlikely to happen.

5. The consultants left partly because of no research or training opportunities. Basically this is where breakthroughs are found, screening processes are made etc. The private companies will be employing doctors and staff who have been trained by the NHS and lost to the NHS.

6. The CCG is responsible for commissioning. I've said it before - CCGs are run 50% max by doctors (mostly GPs) and 50% by non-doctors. So doctors might have tried to veto it but got overruled. But as the Govt spin tells us, CCGs are run by GPs. Hence GPs will get blamed for this.

if you say so, shrug ...