Protecting and improving the NHS to safeguard it for the future is one of the Government’s most important priorities. This week we announced set out the changes we will be making to our plans to reform and modernise the NHS.
The Prime Minister’s decision to pause in the legislative process gave us the chance to run a genuine listening exercise and an opportunity to reflect on our plans. We have listened and learned and we will be adopting a number of recommendations made by the NHS Future Forum which has reviewed and challenged our proposals.
I believe we now have a set of reforms which will do a huge amount to strengthen the ability of the NHS to meet the challenges it will face in the coming years. Even with spending on health increasing, to avoid a financial crisis, the NHS needs to adapt to deal with the pressures of an ageing population, new technologies and the rising cost of treatments.
I would first like to explode one of the myths circulated about our reform proposals. This Government will never privatise the NHS. Nothing in our plans has ever undermined the fundamental principles of the NHS - to deliver free care to all, funded from general taxation and based on need, not ability to pay.
The role of competition in the NHS has proved to be the most controversial element of the plans. It simply isn’t right to say that competition is incompatible with integration and collaboration. Following on from the review, there will now be a much stronger and clearer emphasis on the need for greater integration and collaboration between service providers to improve choice and ensure the very best care packages for patients.
Another change is that the Health Secretary will retain legal responsibility for the overall performance of the NHS.
Nor will doctors be turned into accountants by the scrapping of NHS Primary Care Trusts. Across the country, GPs have already started coming together in groups (known as consortia) to bring clinical leadership to the NHS and take on major new powers over budgets so they can deploy them in the way that best serves their patients.
As a result of our listening exercise, there will be extra support for GP consortia, with the introduction of specialised networks of healthcare professionals to oversee their work. The 2013 deadline for GP consortia taking control of budgets will be relaxed so they will only become operative when they are ready. In some areas, a National Commissioning Board will take on the role until GPs are ready to take over.
Patients will also be given a greater say on local health and well-being boards, being set up by councils, to oversee health care services in their area.
The core principles of our plans have not changed. We want to see greater control for patients on when are where they are treated, more power for doctors and nurses and less bureaucracy in the NHS. But rather than pressing on with our original proposals regardless of the consequences, we have listened to points made by constituents, by colleagues in Government and by healthcare professionals and made significant changes. By seeking to build a wider consensus, I believe we have provided a more stable and workable foundation for taking forward the essential process of modernising the NHS and protecting its future as one of the nation’s most valued assets.