DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
News Release (2007/0283) issued by The Government News Network on 4
October 2007
Lord Darzi sets
out initial vision for the NHS
Delivering the highest quality of care for all, as good or better
than any country in the world, must be a fundamental goal of the
NHS, Lord Darzi will say later today as he publishes his interim
report on the 'Our NHS, Our Future' review.
The report will set out his emerging vision to develop a
universally world-class NHS delivering effective, higher quality
services that are safe, personalised to individual needs, and
equally available to all.
To achieve this, greater influence must be placed in the hands of
local NHS staff and others working in partnership across the
service, based on the best available evidence, using the latest
technological innovations and responding to the needs of local communities.
Launching his report the Health Minister Lord Darzi said:
"Over the last three months, I have spoken to patients, the
public and NHS staff and received thousands of letters and emails
to inform the review.
"This interim report is the result of my discussions and
sets out a vision for the next phase of the NHS. This vision for
the future should not be just mine - or the Government's -
but a vision for the future of health and healthcare in England
that is developed and owned by patients, staff and public
together. At the end of the next phase of the review, I shall
outline how we plan to make this vision a reality, in spring next year.
"This is not about imposing more change from the centre.
Effective change needs to be led locally, driven by clinicians and
others working in partnership across the service."
Lord Darzi's interim report highlights the importance of NHS
innovation in health. It is part of a range of ways in which we
can improve the care that patients' receive and the quality
of their lives. Key innovations in the NHS have already led to the
development of life saving medicines such as new cancer drugs and
devices such as stents (metal devices placed inside an artery
during surgery to keep it open).
As an immediate step to improve innovation in the NHS a new
Health Innovation Council will be established, together with a
fund of up to £100m to help the NHS develop and deploy hi-tech
healthcare such as medical devices and diagnostics.
Lord Darzi will become the Champion of Innovation, dovetailing
this with his review of the NHS.
The new Health Innovation Council, to be chaired by Lord Darzi
and drawn from NHS, academia, and industry, will specifically
tackle the variable uptake of innovation and drive forward
cost-effective innovation in the NHS.
Lord Darzi said:
"I want to see the UK become a world-leader in
pharmaceutical and medical technology research and development, so
NHS patients have access to the best innovative treatments and services.
"The new Health Innovation Council will provide leadership
and advocacy with key decision-makers in the NHS on the benefits
to patients, the NHS and the country, of adopting cost-effective
new technologies and models of care.
Mark Walport, Director of The Wellcome Trust said:
"A greater focus on health innovation is good news for
patients in the
NHS. The new Health Innovation Challenge Fund,
jointly funded and administered by the Wellcome Trust and the
Department of Health, will provide much needed resource to support
the development of innovative technologies, devices and clinical procedures.
"Under the leadership of Lord Darzi, the Health Innovation
Council will ensure that the NHS can benefit quickly from these
advances. All of this builds on the excellence of the UK's
medical sciences."
Notes to Editors:
1. A full copy of the interim report can be downloaded from http://www.nhs.uk/ournhs from
11:30am on Thursday 4 October 2007.
2. All SHAs across the country are taking part in the review
3. In order to help understand how best to meet these challenges
Lord Darzi has spoken to 1,500 NHS staff in 17 NHS organisations,
read more than 1,400 letters and emails from people up and down
the country and taken part in a nationwide day of detailed
discussions on the priorities for the NHS with 1,000 patients,
public and health and social care staff in 9 different towns and cities.
4. Membership of the Health Innovation Council will include:
Sir David Cooksey, Chair of Advent Venture Partners
Sir Mike
Rawlins, Chair of the National Institute for Health and Clinical
Excellence
Dr Mark Walport, Director of the Wellcome
Trust
Professor John Bell, Chair of the Office for Strategic
Coordination of Health Research
Andrew Witty, President, GSK
Pharmaceuticals Europe
Professor Graham Spittle, Chair,
Technology Strategy Board
Professor Bernard Crump, Chief
Executive, NHS Institute of Innovation and Improvement'
The Council will take an overview of the whole innovation
pathway, and its unique nature and membership will enable it to
complement the work of the NHS Institute for Innovation and
Improvement by providing leadership across the NHS and social care
system in highlighting best practice identified by the Institute
and others.
5. The Department of Health has identified five broad categories
of innovation as it relates to the NHS: pharmaceuticals, other
medical technologies, clinical practice, delivery models of
service, and management. The Council will consider all aspects of
innovation that impact on delivery of health and social care services.
6. The Cooksey Report of 2006 called reform of medical research
and innovation. It said; "we recommend a more systematic
approach to the adoption of new technologies and ideas should be
developed, to apply across the whole of the NHS, based on clearly
mapped out processes. We recommend that this should be taken
forward by a project team bringing together the Dept of Health,
the National Institute for Innovation and Improvement/NIC, NICE,
clinician and commissioner representatives."