15 September 2010
As you may know, the Government is planning to make significant changes to the way the NHS works.
The plans are based on a number of key priorities, including:
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Ensuring the NHS is led by what patients want;
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Revolutionising the amount of information the public have about the NHS and the services it provides;
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Promoting better public health to stop people getting sick.
The Government has set out its proposals within a White Paper, 'Equity and excellence: liberating the NHS', which was published in mid-July.
A White Paper is a Parliamentary paper which explains Government policy. In them, Governments set out their proposed actions and signify their intentions to pass new laws.
The headlines from the White Paper include:
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Groups of GPs will be given freedom and responsibility for commissioning (buying) care for their local communities. There will be greater competition in the NHS and greater cooperation;
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A new independent NHS Commissioning Board will allocate and account for NHS resources, lead on quality improvement, and promote patient involvement and choice;
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A greater focus on continuously improving clinical outcomes, rather than inputs or processes. Quality standards will become the foundation for commissioning care, payment systems, and inspection processes;
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All NHS trusts will become foundation trusts and will be given more freedom. To increase choice, any willing provider that can meet safety and quality standards will be able to provide NHS services;
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Patients will get more choice and control, backed by an 'information revolution', so that services are more responsive to patients and designed around them, rather than patients having to fit around services;
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The NHS will be streamlined with fewer layers of bureaucracy. Strategic health authorities and PCTs will be phased out.
Since publishing the White Paper, the Government has launched a number of consultations to gather feedback from patients, the public, NHS staff and others about the proposals it contains.
These are:
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Commissioning for patients - seeking views on how the new system of GP consortia and the NHS Commissioning Board will work in practice;
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Increasing democratic legitimacy - seeking views on strengthening local partnerships between NHS commissioners and local authorities;
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Freeing providers and economic regulation - seeking views on how best to give real freedoms to hospitals and community services and on a new system of regulation;
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The NHS Outcomes Framework - seeking views on a new framework to establish improving quality and healthcare outcomes as the primary purpose of all NHS funded care.
Further consultations are also expected over the coming months.
The White Paper is expected to enter Parliament in the autumn and, subject to parliamentary approval, it should become law by summer 2011.
The White Paper and details of how to respond to the consultations are available on the Department of Health website.
Patients and local people are encouraged to feedback their comments on the consultations by the 11 October 2010 deadline.
