THE head of Worcestershire NHS has branded controversial Government health reforms an “unholy mess” – but has told local people “don’t worry, we can get ourselves out of it”.

Proposals for a radical change to the way the NHS operates have come under such fierce attack that the Government has ordered a pause for more consultation.

Now Dr Bryan Smith, chairman of NHS Worcestershire, has taken the unprecedented step of going public with his views because he is worried about the level of fear being engendered by talk of the NHS reforms.

He brands the reforms an “unholy mess” and “crazy”.

He says highly qualified and committed managers are constantly demeaned as simply bureaucrats while the uncertainty caused by the proposals means some staff, including doctors and nurses, are ‘jumping ship’ Dr Smith writes: “My main message is that although it is all an unholy organisational mess right now the people of Worcestershire should not worry too much about the unfolding local situation.

"We are making good progress in finding our own way out of the mess.”

Under government proposals NHS Worcestershire and strategic health authorities like NHS West Midlands are to be scrapped as part of a series of coalition Government reforms which would place groups of GPs – GP consortia – in charge of NHS budgets.

In an open letter to the people of Worcestershire Dr Smith said: “We all know it was not working perfectly but it was improving rapidly, here in Worcestershire as well as elsewhere.

“A real professional team like the Mercedes-McClaren F1 team might sensibly respond to this sort of situation by dismantling the whole car and rebuilding it.

"For amateurs to do this to the infinitely more complex NHS organisation was just plain crazy.

“The good news is that the planning for all of this is being done jointly between the three main NHS trusts and the three emerging GP consortia, all working alongside the county council.”