[QUOTE] Not IMO, many powerless people and many who think they have power. The CE was a wet tosser. Agreed. Unfortunately the "Consultant" issue would appear to be the NHS's biggest problem. When it was formed they were given too much power (or it would never have happened) and they have used and abused it ever since.[/QUOTE] Without Consultants there would be no hospitals - and the Consultants know it. They can, however, be managed a lot better than in Rotherham. [QUOTE] If they did spend more time in the hospitals then they would not be able to keep the private sector going. The one thought I did have was that as the facilities are being shared and that caused issues over staffing and "list", surely it would be possible to have a dedicated team/building/business that did that one task in one place? So, Rotherham does only eye surgery, Sheffield does othopedics(sp?) etc (simplistic but just some thoughts)[/QUOTE] Specialties that are provided on a sub-regional or regional basis, such as Ophthalmology, can be separated out to an extent. The more common specialties, such as Orthopaedics, need to be provided together and reasonably locally, otherwise the roads would be full of ambulances and visiting relatives. You also need to remember that the government's strategy, well on the way to completion, is that hospitals should become more and more independant. This in turn means that the provision of services is no longer being planned above hospital level. So however good your suggestion might be there is no longer a mechanism to make it happen.