Tories promise ‘NHS autonomy bill’
By Ian Dunt
The Conservatives will introduce an NHS autonomy and accountability bill if they attain power in a bid to minimise ministerial interference in the health service.
The proposal to establish an independent NHS board came during a keynote speech on the NHS by David Cameron, Tory leader, in central London today.
“When the gap in life expectancy between the richest and poorest in our country is now greater than at any time since Queen Victoria was on the throne the question isn’t whether the NHS should change, it’s how the NHS should change,” Mr Cameron said.
He pledged to scrap Labour’s “top-down targets” and collect and publish health outcome data instead, so that patients can analyse which hospitals provide the best services.
NHS providers would be encouraged to become more independent, with GPs becoming responsible for commissioning all forms of care on their patient’s behalf.
The Department for Health would also be turned into the Department for Public Health, in a policy paper which focuses on public health outcomes.
Public health budgets would be devolved to local health commissioners and local authorities, and a universal health visitor programme would aim to improve the health of young families.
‘Healthwatch’, a new patients’ champion, would be created to advocate on behalf of “patients’ interests”.
Providers would be paid according the results they achieved, the Tory leader said, rather than the number of patients treated.
Mr Cameron framed the reforms as a more thorough version of what Labour had promised to accomplish when it recognized the role the private sector could play in service provision.
“If you look at the changes we are making to the NHS – extending foundation trusts, opening up the supply of healthcare, GP commissioning and improving patient choice – these are all changes that are grinding to a slow and tortuous halt under Labour,” he said.
