Working together for a stronger NHS
The NHS is our most precious national asset. We need change in the NHS because our population is changing, because the cost of treatment is rising, and because we want to have the best health service in the world.
The NHS White Paper, ‘Equity & Excellence: Liberating the NHS’, set out plans to modernise the NHS which will give more power to professionals and more control to patients, and will make services more local.
A number of people - including NHS staff and professional bodies - have been asking significant questions and raising concerns about the current plans for the NHS as the NHS White Paper travels through the process of becoming law.
On 6th April 2011, the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Health announced the launch of a series of listening exercises, ‘Working together for a stronger NHS’, across England to allow some of these questions and concerns to be raised and considered further. The aim of this listening exercise is to pause, listen, reflect and improve the current proposed plans for the NHS.
To do this, the NHS is the North West have gathered the views of patients, clinicians, staff and the public around four main themes. These themes are:
• The role of choice and competition for improving quality;
• How to ensure public accountability and patient involvement in the new system;
• How new arrangements for education and training can support the modernisation process; and
• How advice from across a range of healthcare professions can improve patient care.
All views and information gathered have now been fed into the NHS Futures Forum, who will consider this feedback and the current proposals and, where appropriate, adapt their proposals in light of this engagement and discussion.
What did this engagement exercise focus on?
This new engagement exercise gave a real and important opportunity to shape the details of what the new system will look like and how it will operate. The NHS can only continue its drive towards a world class health service by working in partnership with all NHS partners and stakeholders, including patients, the public, staff and clinicians, so this listening exercise was a critical opportunity to engage with the public, staff and stakeholders at a local level, to ensure that the NHS in the future reflects the views of us all.
The engagement exercise focussed on four areas where there has been particular debate. These are:
Choice and competition - Where we need to engage further with patients and the public to understand their priorities for introducing choice, and to understand how competition can best be used as a tool for improving care. View further information on choice and competition.
Patient involvement and public accountability - Where the priority is to test the plans for the new organisations and structures to ensure that public accountability are sufficiently strong and that patient involvement runs throughout the new systems. This has been of particular concern with regards to GP led consortia. Further information can be found by clicking View further information on patient involvement and public accountability.
Clinical advice and leadership - Where we must ensure that clinicians are in the driving seat in the new organisations, and that integrated working between primary and secondary care, and between commissioners and providers, is strengthened not undermined in the new system. Further information can be found by clicking View further information on clinical advice and leadership.
Education and training - Where there is an opportunity for further engagement to test the ideas coming out of the recently completed consultation and to stimulate further debate on how we move forward and manage transition. Further information can be found by clicking View further information on education and training.
NHS North West - Our Listening Exercise and Feedback
NHS North West held a listening event on 24th May 2011 to give the public, staff and stakeholders the opportunity to give their feedback. We also used existing events and forums as opportunities to engage around 'Working Together for a Stronger NHS'.
View feedback from NHS North West Listening Event.
The feedback from this event was fed into the NHS Futures Forum who will consider this feedback and the current proposals and, where appropriate, adapt their proposals in light of this engagement and discussion.
If you have any queries on any of the above, or if you would like further information, please feel free to contact comms@northwest.nhs.uk