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Camden News - by TOM FOOT
Published: 2 October 2008

John Carrier

Public quizzed on health reforms

CAMDEN health chiefs are compiling a database of patients to poll public opinion on future plans – but all members of the Keep Our NHS Public campaign group have been banned.
Camden Primary Care Trust has commissioned consultancy firm Opinion Leader to set up a panel of 1,500 Camden patients who are not members of political groups to be contacted during public consultations.
The PCT will shortly begin consulting on proposals to open a polyclinic in University College London Hospital, and Keep Our NHS Public has been actively campaigning against it.
Liz Paul, a Bloomsbury patient, said: “They asked me if I was a member of Keep Our NHS Public. When I said ‘yes’, they said that was a pressure group and I couldn’t be part of their survey.
“I joined the group because I wanted to find out what was going on.
“Is the PCT simply going to exclude everybody trying to get information or who are worried about the situation?”
At a board meeting on Monday, PCT director of communications Claire Torkington, said: “We hear a lot from Keep Our NHS Public. It is critical we reach out to a wider range of patients. We are trying to get rid of the bias.”
PCT chairman John Carrier said: “There is an old debate that began in the 1980s and was about the use of the private and public sectors. It is not our place to debate that. Our job is to get the best quality for our patients.”

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