I am not surprised Councillor Edward Lister was worried by the finance report discussed by Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth Health Authority on November 1, particularly since he appears to have heard of it only some time after the event.
Let me reassure him and your readers. As chairman of Wandsworth Community Health Council, I was at the table while the report was discussed in open session and indeed contributed to the discussions as a participating observer.
Wandsworth Community Health Council has pressed consistently for more rapid redistribution of resources to the two easterly Primary Care Groups in Wandsworth (Battersea and Balham, Tooting and Wandsworth).
It has been alert to attempts to get round existing agreements to redistribute resources by toleration of weak corporate governance and slack financial discipline elsewhere.
The meeting decided, at my suggestion, to investigate prescribing practices and responsibilities in the Primary Care Group and Primary Care Trust.
I am looking forward to seeing the results at the next public meeting of the Health Authority on December 13. In the meantime, there is no reason why NHS spending in Wandsworth should be restrained artificially.
DONALD ROY, Chairman, Wandsworth Community Health Council
November 30, 2001 13:00
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