Modernising the NHS

The Government’s plan to modernise the NHS by giving more power to patients and healthcare professionals, was announced in a White Paper for health Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS, in July 2010.

The vision builds on the core values and principles of the NHS – a comprehensive service, available to all, free at the point of use, based on need, not ability to pay.

The plan includes giving more control to patients, more power  to doctors and nurses and reducing bureaucracy in the NHS.

What’s going to be different?

Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs) and Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) will be abolished by April 2013. Instead, local Clinical Commissioning Groups made up of GPs, hospital doctors and nurses and other specialists, will take charge of commissioning services for their local population. They will be held to account by an independent NHS Commissioning Board. There are currently 14 Clinical Commissioning Groups within NHS South Central. Visit our Clinical Commissioning page for more information.

Other key changes planned for the NHS include:

Reinforcing patient rights
There will be a duty to promote the NHS Constitution, treat patients within 18 weeks of referral and promote patient choice. Patients can choose to be treated by any qualified NHS or private provider that can provide the necessary, quality treatment

Healthwatch
A new independent body called Healthwatch will look into complaints and scrutinise the performance of providers.

Becoming Foundation Trusts
All NHS Trusts will strive to become NHS Foundation Trusts by 2014. Foundation Trust status gives hospitals more financial autonomy. They will be accountable to local people, who can become members and governors. They are no longer performance managed by health authorities – instead they are overseen by Monitor.

NHS South Central has ten Trusts that have not yet achieved Foundation Trust status, most of which have plans in place to meet the 2014 deadline. Those which cannot meet the strict financial criteria necessary to become a Foundation Trust are looking at alternative arrangements:

• Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust will be acquired by Basingstoke and North Hampshire NHS Foundation Trust subject to an approvals process which is likely to be completed by January 2012.
• There are plans for the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre NHS Trust to integrate with the John Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust by October this year
• Oxfordshire Learning Disabilities NHS Trust and the Strategic Health Authority are working together to find a suitable Foundation Trust that could acquire the Trust.

Health and social care working together
Local authorities are forming Health and Wellbeing Boards which will support organisations that buy services across the NHS, public health, social care and children’s services. An integrated approach will ensure services are joined up and patients receive consistency in the care they receive.

Focusing on prevention
A new body called Public Health England will work to improve public health and reduce health inequalities between the richest and poorest.

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