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NHS Confederation - Lord Carter review can help control costs
Rob Webster, Chief Executive, NHS Confederation welcomes Lord Carter's final report as a valued contribution to efforts to reduce hospital costs.
“Lord Carter’s work with trusts makes a helpful contribution to the challenge of bringing down costs in hospitals. Full delivery of the report will provide less than a quarter of the overall efficiencies we are required to make and it is important to recognise the huge scale of the challenge ahead.
“Alongside this work, we will need to keep a focus on system wide changes that deliver more cost effective care. Hospitals alone cannot deliver changes required and they will be working on the back of efficiencies achieved in the last Parliament. Over the last five years, they have strived to deliver quality care and achieve almost £19 billion in efficiency savings, all while enduring a net cut of 6.2 per cent to the prices being paid for their acute services.
“As we implement the recommendations, there must continue to be close engagement with the sector and a genuine understanding of the challenge NHS leaders are facing locally. The capacity to improve services and reduce management costs will be challenging. A cap on management costs, which have seen dramatic reductions in recent years, must not be a false economy.
“Overall, we need to develop a supportive working environment for local leaders. This means regulators that align better to reduce their burden on local leadership, support for organisations on quality improvement skills and capacity for change rather than capacity for maintaining the status quo. NHS leaders stand ready to meet the challenges ahead, if they are given the support to do so.”
Rob Webster, Chief Executive, NHS Confederation welcomes Lord Carter's final report as a valued contribution to efforts to reduce hospital costs.
View Lord Carter’s report:
