01.10.11
Andrew Lansley announces ‘liberation’ of the NHS
Secretary of State for Health Andrew Lansley has set out the Government's plans to reform the NHS during this Parliament.
The White Paper Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS details how the coalition government intends for power to be ‘devolved from Whitehall to patients and professionals’.
The paper claims that NHS professionals will be ‘free to focus on improving health outcomes so that these are amongst the best in the world’. Improving the quality of care will become the main purpose of the NHS.
Because of the proposals, the government is also claiming that patients will get ‘more choice and control, backed by an information revolution’, which will ensure that ‘services are more responsive to patients and designed around them, rather than patients having to fit around services’.
Under the new plans, patients will be able to choose which GP practice they register with, regardless of where they live, and choose between consultant-led teams. More comprehensive and transparent information, such as patients’ own ratings, will help them make these choices together with healthcare professionals.
The government has said that as a result of the changes, the NHS will be ‘streamlined with fewer layers of bureaucracy’. As part of this Strategic Health Authorities and Primary Care Trusts will be phased out and management costs will be reduced ‘so that as much resource as possible supports frontline services’.
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said: “The Government’s ambition is for health outcomes – and quality services – that are among the best in the world. We have in our sights a unique combination of equity and excellence.
“With patients empowered to share in decisions about their care, with professionals free to tailor services around their patients and with a relentless focus on continuously improving results, I am confident that together we can deliver the efficiency and the improvement in quality that is required to make the NHS a truly world class service.”
Groups of GPs will be given freedom and responsibility for commissioning care for their local communities. The government has said that this mean that providers of services will have ‘new freedoms’ and will be more accountable. This move has been warmly welcomed by groups representing GPs.
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