TWO consultations on the future of health services in Greater Manchester have cost é1.5m . . . and counting.
Figures released today show 4,000 people responded to plans to change health services in Oldham, Rochdale, Bury and North Manchester. The cost so far is é655,000.
And 55,000 filled in formal responses about a review of the region's maternity and children's services. Cost: é865,000.
About 160,000 people signed petitions related to the Making it Better and Healthy Futures consultations and thousands more have attended public meetings about the plans over the last four months.
Health bosses will not say how much it is costing to analyse the responses. Decisions are not expected until at least September.
Making it Better, the review of maternity services, affects three million people and is thought to be the largest NHS consultation ever carried out.
Leila Williams, director of the Children's Network, said: "We are surprised but delighted at the response. It clearly shows the huge importance attached to this area of healthcare and thank everyone for their contribution. It means everyone has had their say and made it an effective consultation."
Statement
A director of the north east area review caused outrage when she said a 30,000-signature petition was not worth the paper it was written on.
She said signatures protesting at plans to close wards in Rochdale Infirmary "carry absolutely no weight and will not be considered", prompting Health Minister Liam Byrne to promise those who had signed would "have a voice". And local health bosses dismissed the statement as an "unfortunate misunderstanding".
The largest petition was from Macclesfield, with more than 30,000 signatures calling for the retention of local maternity and children's services.
Similar petitions were received from Salford, Congleton, Tameside and Bolton. Petitions supporting the retention of all local services were received from people in Bury, Rochdale, Heywood and Middleton.
Rochdale MP Paul Rowen said: "Here in Rochdale we are faced with cuts to our child care, maternity and accident and emergency services and the level of opposition from all walks of life has been huge.
"The cost of the consultation has been huge and we expect a professional and independent analysis. People don't want to lose vital services."
John Williams, SHA project director for consultations, said: "The process now focuses on the analysis and the ultimate decision to be undertaken by the joint committee. This will be no easy task and will take some time."
The cash has been spent on producing and distributing leaflets, staff, organising public events and on advertising and other public relations.
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Blair's government has been characterised by a frivolity not of purpose but of method, which has done infinite damage to policy implementation.To treat the fundamental ills of the NHS this administration has applied the quack remedies by army of managers. The truth is that the NHS is being redesigned to fail.
It is convenient for the government to represent the "deficits" as showing that the NHS is failing, when they are really a symptom of the costs of marketisation. And attributing them to greedy staff is handy , because it silences some of the very people who can best defend the NHS. The clamour about deficits also diverts attention from the most astonishing - and shameful - fact of all: that the government's idea that marketising the NHS will improve it is not based on evidence, but on ideology.