NHS shake-up hindering cuts to spending, says report In a highly critical report, the health select committee said hospitals were resorting to short-term "salami slicing" as they try to find £20 billion in efficiency savings by 2014/15. But in a stinging criticism of Health Secretary Andrew Lansley's reorganisation, it said the process "continues to complicate the push for efficiency gains." There was a "marked disconnect between the concerns expressed by those responsible for delivering services and the relative optimism of the Government" over achieving cuts, the committee noted. The attack is especially wounding as the committee is chaired by one of Mr Lansley's Tory predecessors, Stephen Dorrell, and is dominated by Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs. It comes days after all the major health unions - representing doctors, nurses and midwives - stated "outright opposition" to the Health and Social Care Bill, being debated by Parliament. The British Medical Association (BMA), the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges are also holding a summit on Thursday to discuss the Bill. For today's report, a detailed investigation by the committee found "disturbing evidence" that cost-cutting measures being implemented "could fairly be described as 'short-term expedients' or 'salami slicing"'. NHS bodies were "making do and squeezing existing services simply to get through the first year of the programme" rather than looking for long-term reforms to practices, it found. In a stark warning, the MPs concluded that it was "far from certain whether the targets... will be met, even with trusts stretching themselves." The tough task was being made harder by the fact that the Government was pushing through its major shake-up of the entire health service structure at the same time, the MPs said. "Although it may have facilitated savings in some cases, we heard that it more often creates disruption and distraction that hinders the ability of organisations to consider truly effective ways of reforming service delivery and releasing savings," they concluded. The Department of Health also came under fire in the report for giving NHS bodies only weeks to prepare bids for £300 million of capital funding over the Christmas period. "At a time when all NHS bodies are being required to make efficiencies and need to plan strategically to reshape services, it is unhelpful for the Department of Health to require them to make bids for capital funding to short deadlines and without adequate preparation," it said. As part of an examination of the state of social care, the committee said there was "precious little evidence of the urgency" required being given to integrating health and care services. It expressed "deep concern" that £116 million of £648 million earmarked to improving the link between the two had been spent simply "sustaining existing eligibility criteria." It called for urgent investigation of the possibility of "passporting" more NHS funds directly to the sector - and warned that more vulnerable people were losing out on state-funded help. "In spite of government assurances, local authorities are having to raise eligibility criteria in order to maintain social care services to those in greatest need," it said. Mr Dorrell attempted to play down the significance of the impact of the Government's reforms, insisting the NHS was "well used to management change" and that efficiencies were the "key issue." "The fact that there is another Bill going through Parliament changing the management structure of the NHS means that there is a tendency for every comment about the NHS to be framed by the debate about the Bill," he said. But the NHS is well used to management change. In reality, the key pressures which are building in the system arise from the fact that demand is continuing to grow at a time when health and social care budgets have stopped growing. The NHS funding challenge can only be met by rethinking and redesigning the way health services are delivered now, in order to deliver lasting long-term benefits. Mr Lansley said: "We all know the NHS faces challenges from an ageing population and rising costs of new treatments. Our plans for modernisation are essential if we are to put the NHS on a sustainable footing for the future. As the report acknowledges, our modernisation plans allow us to make significant savings, not least in reducing the needless bureaucracy. Only when we give nurses and doctors more power will we see local NHS services reshaped to suit patients so they can see who they want where they want. We know the NHS can meet this challenge - we have already made £7 billion in efficiency savings over the last 18 months as performance has improved: record low infection rates, mixed-sex wards down by over 90% and people waiting over a year reduced by half. Labour failed to push through reform of the NHS in their time in government. That is why we are having to act now. Asked how he would approach the NHS if he were health secretary, Mr Dorrell told ITV's Daybreak: "The key thing, given the continued rises in demand on the system and the fact that the money growth has stopped, is to focus on delivering more efficient, more integrated services. Deliver services such as social care, healthcare and general practice in a way that works for the patient - joined-up services for the patient. That's how you deliver better care and it's also how you deliver more efficient care.