Health Secretary
Andy Burnham today set out his strategy for the NHS to put
patients first and improve the quality of care as it enters an
unprecedented era of reform.
The strategy, ‘NHS 2010-2015: from good to great. Preventative,
people-centred, productive,’ published today by the Department of
Health, explains the need to accelerate the pace of NHS reform to
make the system more productive and hasten improvements in quality
of care – protecting patients, supporting staff, shifting
resources to the frontline and slashing back office waste and
bureaucracy.
Andy Burnham said:
“The NHS today is better funded, more resilient, has more
capacity and provides better care than ever before. It is ready to
take on the new challenge of getting more out of what we have and
moving from good to great.
“For the NHS to become truly great, it must become more
preventative and people-centred. Lord Darzi’s vision to put
quality at the heart of the NHS is fast becoming a reality across
the country. This means top quality care is our goal and patient
safety our top priority. This is right for our times. Quality care
is not always about spending more money, but about spending it in
the right places. Moving care from hospitals into homes and
communities is better for patients and more efficient.
“With an ageing population and the increased prevalence of
lifestyle diseases, preventing illness and keeping people healthy
is our best long term insurance policy for the nation’s health and
managing the financial challenges ahead. The NHS should intervene
earlier to help people lead healthier lives and prevent more
disease.
“The improvements in the last decade have been made by NHS staff.
It is vital to protect frontline staff in order to deliver
services to patients. The challenge to the NHS, and to NHS leaders
and staff around the country, is to reshape services further and
faster than ever before. We are proud of the achievements of NHS
staff and we will do everything we can to support them through the
next period of change.
“In the past, a tougher financial environment has meant that
patients have paid the price through longer waits. But that will
not happen this time. We will not back away from the NHS. The
Pre-Budget Report confirms that we can lock-in the achievements of
the last decade, while protecting patients and providing top
quality care.
“I have said that the NHS is our preferred provider. This is not
about accepting underperformance or freezing out our partners in
other parts of the NHS, the third sector and the independent
sector. But we are asking the NHS and its staff to go through an
unprecedented amount of change, so this is about saying that where
there is underperformance and the NHS is an incumbent provider, we
will give the NHS the first opportunity to improve to the level of
the best.”
The measures include:
A new payment system, which puts patients first – hospital
income will increasingly be linked to patient satisfaction, rising
to 10 per cent of their payments over time, meaning hospitals will
work harder for their patients. More choice for patients –
abolishing GP practice boundaries, improving access to a GP in the
evenings and weekends and more services at home or in the
community.Dedicated carers for those in need for patients with
cancer or serious long-term conditions who can benefit from a more
personal approach to nursing. Where appropriate, this should
include the provision of personalised one-to-one support by a
health professional, particularly for the more complex
conditions.New rights to high quality care including consulting on
the right for patients nearing the end of their life to choose
where they wish to spend their final days and new rights to high
quality standards of service and care that will be clearly set out
in the new NHS Constitution.Supporting staff – we believe the
announcement in the Pre-Budget Report provides the resources to
protect frontline services in the NHS. We are proposing to work
with NHS Employers and trade unions through the national Social
Partnership Forum and Staff Council to explore the pros and cons
of whether we could offer frontline staff an employment guarantee
locally or regionally – in return for flexibility, mobility and
sustained pay restraint.More freedom for the best hospitals to
expand their services out into the community across a wider area
including GP centres. More access to personal care plans that
allow patients to choose the right care tailored to their
individual needs.Personal health budgets to empower patients to
give millions of patients the right to more control over their
care and the services they can ask for, as well as more options to
receive care at or closer to home.Locking in improvements in the
service with the NHS Constitution – from 1 April 2010, we will
give patients the legal right to maximum waiting times to start
treatment by a consultant within 18 weeks of GP referral and to
being seen by a cancer specialist within two weeks of GP referral.
In addition, the Prime Minister announced in September plans to
offer all patients in England access to tests that can confirm or
exclude cancer within one week to help save thousands of lives
every year. From April 2012, we also want everyone between 40 and
74 to have the legal right to an NHS Health Check every five years
to assess their risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and kidney
disease.Regular free health checks will improve health and prevent
up to 1,600 heart attacks and strokes each year.
In addition, NHS Chief Executive David Nicholson today outlined
details of the NHS Operating Framework for 2010/11, due to be
published next week, which will set out NHS priorities for the
next year. The Operating Framework will help the NHS make the
changes necessary to embed quality and for it to drive all that
the NHS does.
The Framework will allow the NHS to focus on ensuring care is
safe, compassionate and personal to patients and will provide real
opportunity for radical and innovative approaches to improve the
quality of services, whilst at the same time reducing costs.
Notes to Editors
‘NHS 2010-2015: from good to great. Preventative,
people-centred, productive,’ is available on the Department of
Health website: http://www.dh.gov.uk/The top five priorities for
the NHS in the Operating Framework remain: improving standards of
cleanliness and tackling healthcare associated
infections;improving access to care through the achievement of the
18-week referral to treatment pledge and improving access to GP
services, including at evenings and at weekends;improving the
health of adults and children and reducing health inequalities, by
focusing on improving care for cancer and stroke, and paying
particular attention to children's health, particularly
in the most deprived areas of the country;improving patient
experience, staff satisfaction and engagement; andpreparing to
respond in a state of emergency, such as an outbreak of pandemic
influenza. For further information please contact the Department
of Health press office on: 0207 210 5221.
Contacts:
Department of Health
Phone: 020 7210 5221
NDS.DH@coi.gsi.gov.uk