The White Paper ‘Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS’ published on 12 July 2010, details the Government’s strategy to “create a more responsive, patient- centred NHS, which achieves outcomes that are among the best in the world”. Key priorities are:
- A patient-led NHS
- Shift focus and resources to promote better healthcare outcomes
- Revolutionise NHS accountability
- Promote better public health for the nation
- Reform social care
The proposed changes aim to create a more streamlined NHS with fewer layers of bureaucracy and will see:
- Strategic Health Authorities and Primary Care Trusts being phased out
- management costs reduced so that resources support frontline services
- groups of GPs given freedom and responsibility for commissioning local community care
- services more joined up, with a new role for Local Authorities to support integration across health and social care.
The White Paper is the start of an extensive consultation that will run until the beginning of October. The Department of Health has published a number of consultation documents to seek views on more detailed proposals and interested parties should visit the Department of Health’s website to get involved in the relevant consultations.
Birkett Long’s Health & Social Care team is working on initiatives to assist organisations involved in this sector to understand and embrace the changes to best effect. For help and guidance on issues surrounding the White Paper contact Tracey Dickens:
tracey.dickens@birkettlong.co.uk
