ACUTE CARE FORUMS ARE DANGEROUS-CARERS BEWARE

[barry.tebb]

The government is creating what it calls "Acute Care Forums"throughout the country.You would assume-incorrectly it appears-that these are public meeting where quesions can be asked.I have one of their leaflets in front of me but it provides no web address and when I checked the net and found a named person to email, the email came back to me marked "undeliverable".After detailed cross-referencing I discovered some very odd things.1.The Acute Care Forum was formed in 2005 as a partnership between the NHS Confederation(NOT I believe part of the NHS but the 'trade union'of chief executives and NIMH,which has itself very recently become known by yet another acronym)For six years the organisation has been dormant-rather like a 'sleeper cell'in a spy thriller until it is now very much active in a decidedly deadly way.2.Its chair is one Malcolm Rae,invisible on the net apart from a very brief wikipedia entry.Rae made his way up through the 'special hospitals'(Braodmoor etc.)and ended as a senior civil servant i/c this forensic area in Whitehall,retiring with the obligatory OBE.He is credited with the authorship of 2 books but when I checked them out on Amazon I found he had no connection whatsoever with 1 and had added a forward to the other!3.When my friend asked Rae a question about whether his group 'had teeth'his reply was of "Gums not teeth.."3.This quasi-quango is briefed to smooth through cuts-less beds,shorter stays .When its in your area-BEWARE!