I’m sorry that your correspondent Mr Barltrop thinks I have been ‘lured into a bear trap’ by politicians.

As I’ve said previously, I actually think some politicians are putting much-needed improvements in the quality of healthcare at risk in campaigning against the Better Services Better Value (BSBV) proposals, which I believe will save lives in their constituencies.

But I’m quite happy to point out that the BSBV proposals were not put forward by the Secretary of State for Health or the government.

They were developed by local clinicians - over 150 of us, working in six clinical working groups over many months.

The case for change was established and discussed before the current administration came to power, as part of the previous Healthcare for South West London initiative.

I can't see how this could be construed as a political bear trap.

BSBV has been a local, clinically-led programme from the beginning, stemming from a realisation that we could not continue to deliver services as we have done in the past.

We all agree that no change is not an option.

Our proposals are based on achieving good quality, safe and consistent services that can be accessed by every one of us, everywhere, all the time.

Sadly this is not the case now. We believe that adopting the London Quality Standards, which were also developed by clinicians across London based on standards set by the Royal Colleges is the best way to do this.

None of our hospitals currently meet all of these standards and this is a problem we urgently need to address.

You can read about the standards on the NHS's London Health Programmes website. 

Dr Marilyn Plant; Joint Medical Director, Better Services Better Value