21.06.12
NHS Confederation calls for brave leadership through change
Local leaders on the NHS must be brave, health chiefs have stated, whilst recognising the importance of integration and community care.
The NHS Confederation annual conference and exhibition opened yesterday in Manchester, with keynote speeches from confederation chief executive Mike Farrar, chair Sir Keith Pearson and health secretary Andrew Lansley.
Farrar highlighted the need to communicate the vision of the NHS to the public, something which many feel has not been achieved so far by the politicians driving that change.
He added that the NHS must ensure the mechanics of the new system make it the right thing to do financially and called for local leaders to be “brave”.
“Our politicians have been discredited recently, we need to help them feel better about the NHS,” Farrar said. “Overall health population issues have been overshadowed by desires for restructure – we now need to move forward from this. How compelling would it be for us to take stories of the NHS and make them narratives that people can understand on a local basis.”
Sir Keith Pearson added: “There are many things for us to be looking at over the next three days, not just the act but also efficiency savings that the NHS should be making and other challenges. It is a time for us to look forward with these challenges, and I hope that you all come away at the end of this week invigorated after much discussion and having met many great people.”
In terms of service reconfiguration, Farrar claimed that “too many people are being treated in hospitals unnecessarily” and Lansley said: “Service change is not about shutting things down.
“We need to recognise that patients should go to services which are specialised. Reconfiguration will be different across the country. We can strike a balance – we can deliver to patients the clear and consistent message that we need to.”
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