At
least £10 million more to fund Social Enterprises
NHS staff and patients will get more control of their services
thanks to a package of measures announced by Health Secretary
Andrew Lansley at the social enterprise conference, VOICE 11 in
London today.
The measures all put into practice the Big Society values of
reconnecting people with the services they provide and use, giving
them the ownership and freedom to innovate and make the changes
which Whitehall is too remote to lead.
Measures include:
The Right to Provide scheme which will enable all staff working
anywhere in NHS and care services where it is clinically
appropriate to set up as independent organisations to run the
services they deliver. To give staff the financial support
necessary to do this at least £10 million additional funding is
being given to the Social Enterprise Investment Fund. The Fund has
already helped support over 400 social enterprises to establish
themselves and compete to provide services.
These measures are not designed to make it easier for private
providers to enter the NHS – some of the most successful examples
of this approach have come from within the NHS. City Healthcare
Partnership in Hull provides services to over half a million
people including reducing emergency admissions and any profits it
generates as part of this are made available as grants to fund
local voluntary projects to improve health and wellbeing.
Andrew Lansley reaffirmed the Department's commitment to
making choice a reality for patients including a choice of any
provider that is appropriately qualified. The Department will
issue its response to the consultation, Liberating the NHS:
Greater choice and control, and guidance on implementing Any
Qualified Provider, shortly.
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said:
“For too long staff and patients have seen their local services
dictated by Whitehall officials who have never seen the work they
do day-to-day. This is wrong and stifles the energy and ambition
that all health professionals should have to deliver the very best
they can for their patients.
“I’ve heard from many NHS staff over the years that they could
run their services better if they were given room to breathe and
felt their voices were heard. I want as many of them as possible
to come forward now and take more control of the NHS and care
services they provide.
“By giving staff real control of their services and patients real
choice over who they receive care from we’re restoring the balance
of power. This is what we mean when we talk about Big Society –
reconnecting people with the services they provide and rely on.”
Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster
General, said:
“The Department of Health is taking a really positive lead
devolving power to people on the front line who know how things
can be done better. Across the public services we will soon give
many more front line staff the chance to form mutual organisations
and take control of their services with similar ‘Rights to
Provide’.
“There’s huge pent up frustration in the public sector because
innovative ideas have been stifled by top-down control. Every time
I visit existing public sector mutuals I’m impressed by the
enthusiasm staff show for improving their service. Evidence shows
that productivity rockets when staff take a stake in their
business, this means better, more efficient public services as
well as a more rewarding experience for staff.”
Continuing the shift of power away from Whitehall, the Department
is today also publishing clear guidance and a timetable for the
transition from the current patient involvement groups to the much
more powerful local HealthWatch groups. They will have
stronger powers to shape and hold to account local services than
the current Local Involvement Networks.
This package of messages will return the freedom and power to
staff and patients who have for too long been frustrated at being
unable to make a difference to the services they provide and use.
Notes to Editors
1. For media enquiries only please contact the Department of
Health press office on 020 7210 5221
2. Details on how to apply top the Social Enterprise Investment
Fund can be found here:
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Managingyourorganisation/Socialenterprise/SocialEnterpriseInvestmentFund/DH_099698
3. The HealthWatch Transition Plan can be found here: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_125582
4. Under the Right to Request scheme community services were able
to apply to become social enterprise. Right to Provide extends
this to all NHS and care services where it is clinically
appropriate. An example of where this would not be appropriate is
A and E.
Contacts:
Department of Health
Phone: 020 7210 5221
NDS.DH@coi.gsi.gov.uk