The government has agreed to make the main changes to its NHS reforms in England as recommended by the Future Forum report.
At a joint press conference with his deputy Nick Clegg and health secretary Andrew Lansley, the Prime Minister said they had listened to fears about increasing competition and just giving GPs control over commissioning.
He said: “The fundamentals of our plans - more control to patients, more power to doctors and nurses, less bureaucracy in the NHS - they are as strong today as they’ve ever been. But the shape of our plans, the detail of how we’re going to make all this work, that really has changed as a direct result of this consultation.”
The Lib Dems opposed aspects of the Bill, following their poor showing in the local elections, and leader Nick Clegg said he hoped the government now had a plan “we can all get behind”.
An independent review by the Future Forum, following a two-month pause in the progress of the Health and Social Care Bill, recommended the following:
- Reinstating the legal responsibility of the health secretary for the performance of the NHS.
- Scrapping the primary role of the regulator, Monitor, to promote competition - and focusing on improving patient choice instead.
- Relaxing the 2013 deadline for the new GP commissioning arrangements to be introduced.
- Strengthening the power of Health and Wellbeing boards, which are being set up by councils, to oversee commissioning and giving patients a great say in local services.
- Retaining a lead role for GPs in decision-making, but boosting the role of other professionals such as hospital doctors and nurses alongside them.
Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of BMA council, commented: “We are pleased that the government has accepted the Future Forum’s core recommendations, and that there will be significant revisions to the Health and Social Care Bill. We will need to look carefully at the details of the changes, but it seems clear that what we are likely to see is a very different Bill, and one which puts the reforms on a better track.
“There is much in the government’s response that addresses the BMA’s concerns, and many of the principles outlined reflect changes we have called for. The success of the reforms will very much depend on how the various elements link together and work on a practical level, and on how much they engage clinicians and patients locally.”
A national Commissioning Board, based in Leeds, will be set up to control budgets until GP groups are ready to take over.
Mr John Black, president of the Royal College of Surgeons, said: “The government should take great credit for taking time to listen to concerns from healthcare professionals and patients over the detail of the health reforms.
“Amendments announced today to formally include hospital doctors in commissioning will help ensure all patients are fully accounted for and prevent unintended destabilisation of hospital services. Commitments to prohibit cherry picking of cases and to maintain medical training are welcome - the RCS has provided detailed advice on these points that we hope will be taken up in the coming months.”
Tags: Health policy
