05.07.13
Elderly to get named consultant outside hospital
As the NHS turns 65, the Government has set out new proposals to improve care for the vulnerable and the elderly.
These include having a named clinician responsible for each patient’s care outside hospital, ensuring accountability is clear and that care is personalised. GPs will take a more active role in managing the health of their local populations to improve early diagnosis and access to primary care will be improved with new ways for patients to connect with their doctors.
Existing services and opening hours will be extended and the Friends & Family test will be rolled out to general practice by next December. The DH is seeking views on the proposals this summer and will publish a final plan in October.
Health secretary Jeremy Hunt said: “In 65 years, the NHS has quite simply done more to improve people’s lives that any other institution in our history. But too often the people it fails are its heaviest users – our most vulnerable and elderly. Too often these people end up in hospital not by design, but simply because they can’t get the care they need elsewhere.
“We need radical improvements to make sure our most vulnerable and elderly have the support they need to keep them in better health and out of hospital. With one clinician responsible for their care in the community, just as there is a consultant responsible for them in hospital.
“Our immediate focus is on our most vulnerable and elderly. But this is only the starting point of a much broader transformation in out of hospital care – one which will help every single patient and make sure the NHS stays true to the values that underpinned its founding in 1948.”
The Prime Minister said: “Our National Health Service is one of the most precious institutions we have. We all know it, because all of us have been touched by it. I will never forget the care my son Ivan received and the inspirational people who helped Sam and me through some of the most difficult times. The consultants, the community nurses, the care team – every one of them became part of our lives. When you have experienced support and dedicated professional care like that, you know just how incredibly special the NHS is.”
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