Democracy: DoH style.

The Deputy CMO demonstrating 'consultation process' yesterday.

The ferret fancier has pointed out just how our medical leaders at the Department of Health regard the opinion of their fellow professionals, and it makes pretty depressing reading. Martin Marshall, the deputy CMO, let slip some home truths upon interrogation by the Commons Health Select Committee:

When he was asked what the profession was saying at the time:

"There were a lot of letters, emails, blogs on websites that said that the process should be stopped, but I felt that the voice of those that felt it should continue was muted, particularly in the spring in the heat of the problems, their voice were expressed very strongly, by a lot of the candidates who had had interviews who wanted them to stand, by the service who didn't want a vacuum on August 1st, and by a lot educationalists as well"

Then when asked if there was an equal balance of people who wanted it scrapped and people who wanted it to continue?

"Not on volume, not on noise, certainly not, the people who wanted it stopped were making a much louder noise"

So then what was the justification for not listening to this noisy majority?

"It had to be a rational one, not one based on noise"

Sir Lame Donaldduck - Still hasn't resigned.

This is a shocking admission. The Deputy CMO is openly admitting that a majority of the medical profession wanted the MTAS process scrapped, in fact he refers to the majority of opinion as a nuisance-like 'noise'. He arrogantly assumes that he and his cronies at the DoH know best and that only their decision could possibly be the right, or rational one. The DoH approach resembles a corrupt Soviet style command and control system, an approach that is doomed to dismal failure as Gerry Robinson has recently found out. A functional NHS would listen and respond to the opinion and concerns of highly educated professionals on the ground; the current regime's dysfunctional nature is betrayed by the cowardly contempt that it shows towards the very people that it should be listening to.