DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
News Release issued by The Government News Network on 3 July 2008
A new strategy
published today by the Department of Health will give patients and
the public a stronger voice, enable them to make informed
decisions and have greater choice and control in managing their
health and healthcare.
'Our vision for Primary and Community Care', published
as part of the Next Stage Review of the NHS, sets out the future
direction for primary and community care in England, where
essential standards are ensured and excellence is rewarded. It
focuses on personal and responsive health care - providing
integrated care based around the person, not just their individual
symptoms or care needs.
The strategy underlines the central role primary and community
care services play in keeping people healthy, preventing illness
and promoting healthy life styles as well as tackling regional
variations in health and well-being.
Health Services Minister Ben Bradshaw said:
"Our NHS primary and community care services are highly
valued by patients and the public - for the personal continuity of
care they provide and for their strong ties with local
communities. As the NHS turns 60 this year, we need to build on
these strengths and to raise our ambitions looking forward to the future.
"People tell us that they want to be more involved in
decisions about their health care and that primary and community
care should be more individual, convenient and joined up. Change
will only come from listening more closely to what users tell us,
responding to that and giving them more choice and say over their
health care.
"Our vision for primary care will protect the highly popular
and effective system of registering with a local GP, but give
family doctors a stronger role in working with other clinicians,
local authorities and other organisations to provide the right
services, in the right place and at the right time to meet
individual needs.
"All of this will only happen by unlocking the talents and
professionalism of NHS staff working in primary care, giving them
greater freedoms to provide the services their patients want and
more control over how they do it, whilst equipping them with the
necessary skills."
Professor Michael Dixon, GP from Devon and Chair of NHS Alliance
is a member of the Primary and Community Care Advisory Board. He said:
"The Primary Care Strategy is a big thumbs up for general
practice. The principles and values upon which it is based, such
as the registered list, quality and personal care and continuity,
are those that matter most to good GPs. Furthermore, it supports
and extends our ability to improve the health of our patients and
the services available to them. As a charter for renewed and
refreshed general practice, the next challenge will be for us GPs
to provide innovation and leadership that will enable the Strategy
to make a real difference for our patients".
Building on the £250 million extra investment and recent
initiatives in Primary Care, today's announcement means:
* listening and responding to what people tell us. The GP patient
survey will be extended to encourage patient feedback and greater
public accountability for staff working in Primary Care;
* greater choice of GP. Patients will be able to register online
and have a greater range of options for consulting with their GP
(eg by telephone or email). Practice funding will be reformed to
reward GPs who take on new patients to support greater patient choice;
* everyone with a long-term condition will have their own
personalised care plan - and those with complex health needs - a
care co-ordinator - by 2010. individual health budgets will be
piloted to allow patients to have greater control over how NHS
funding is used to support their care;
* creating a new secure web-based system called
'myhealthspace', allowing people to access and update
their personal care record, to share information with their care
team, and book appointments and order repeat prescriptions;
* faster and simpler access to a wider range of community based
services such as minor ailments services and health checks in
high-street pharmacies, walk-in services, and self-referral to
physiotherapy or podiatry services for example;
* more online performance and quality information available on
NHS Choices website to enable patients to compare GP and community
health care services and view patient feedback;
* identifying those most at risk of ill-health and offering early
interventions that help keep people healthy for longer, working
with GPs to amend the Quality and Outcomes Framework to reflect
this and providing stronger incentives for early intervention.
High performing GPs will have greater freedoms to develop new
services for their patients, working with other primary and
community clinicians by reinvigorating practice based commissioning;
* piloting more joined up services to help people who want to
return to work but are struggling with back problems, stress etc;
* increasing access to 'healthy living services' making
it easier for GP practices to refer or point people towards walk
in services that best meet their needs such as exercise classes,
stop smoking support or help in managing stress;
* investing in new programmes of clinical leadership, innovation
and high-quality training and giving primary care clinicians more
control over budgets and personnel decisions; and
* transforming community health services to unlock the talents of
the 250,000 nurses, health visitors, allied health professionals
and other staff who play such a crucial role in providing personal
care for children and families, older people and those with
complex care needs. This will include adoption of new metrics
which will allow community staff to demonstrate quality, and
pulling together research evidence to help staff provide the best
possible service.
Lord Ara Darzi's Next Stage Review of the NHS, 'High
Quality Care For All' published on Monday set out proposals
that will give patients more choice, and information, reward the
hospitals and clinics that offer both the highest quality of care,
and provide the most responsive services.
The report sets out plans that build on this progress and show
how innovation and creativity of staff can further improve
services. Changes will be driven not through top-down targets but
by giving responsibility to the staff at local level.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
1. Our Vision for Primary and Community Care is available on the
Department of Health website at: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/publicationsandstatistics/publicationspolicy/and guidance/dh_085937
2. The Next Stage Review Report, 'High Quality Care For
All' is available on the Department of Health website: http://www.dh.gov.uk/ournhsourfuture