More detail needed on Conservative NHS manifesto, says think tank
pharmafile | January 8, 2010 | News story | | Conservatives, NHS, king's fund
The Conservative Party’s draft manifesto on the NHS has been given a cautious welcome by the King’s Fund, which says its focus on health inequalities is undoubtedly welcome.
But the think tank says more of the gaps in its health policies need to be inked in before voters can see what a Tory NHS would look like.
Conservative leader David Cameron pledges to “scrap all of the politically-motivated process targets that stop health professionals doing their jobs properly”.
But the King’s Fund points out that he has not said whether the Tories would keep the current waiting times achieved by the NHS.
The manifesto also states it will “set NHS providers free to innovate by ensuring they become autonomous Foundation Trusts”.
And GPs would be given the power to hold patients’ budgets and commission care on their behalf in hospitals, GP surgeries or specialist clinics, with GP pay linked “to the quality of the results they deliver”.
“An independent board, changes to the way that drugs are approved and paid for, and real budgets in the hands of GPs could significantly change the way in which the NHS operates,” noted King’s Fund acting chief executive Dr Anna Dixon.
“But more detail is needed before the impact of such policies can be properly understood,” she warned.
“The provision of choice has to be balanced with concerns for safety and quality of services,” Dixon goes on.
Another of David Cameron’s headline health announcements has been on maternity services, proposing ‘maternity networks’ that would link up services for pregnant women.
Dixon said: “Co-ordination and communication needs to be improved between all involved in the care of mothers, babies and their families.
“More information is needed on how the proposed maternity networks would achieve this and how new providers would be encouraged into the system,” Dixon added.
Above all, finances will provide perhaps the major challenge to public health and the Tories say they are “committed to protecting health spending in real terms”.
The Conservatives insist their reforms will slash the cost of NHS administration by a third and allow them to “transfer resources that Labour is currently wasting on bureaucracy to support doctors and nurses on the frontline”.
“It’s not clear whether today’s announcement is a move away from existing PCT allocation formulas or creates additional public health funding,” Dixon concluded.
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