New health secretary promises ‘deep clean’ of NHS priorities
pharmafile | June 15, 2009 | News story | |Â Â NHS, healthcareÂ
The new health secretary Andy Burnham has promised a 'deep clean' of the NHS' priorities, with a further move away from a target-driven culture towards one centred around quality.
Burnham was named as the new secretary of state for health, in Gordon Brown's latest cabinet reshuffle and replaces Alan Johnson.
"The NHS has made huge progress. But I want it to go from good to world-class, moving away from numbers and towards what matters most – the patient's experience.
Citing a 65% reduction in MRSA infections since 2003, the new health minister said there would be a new minimum standard to ensure all hospitals drive down MRSA bloodstream infections to the levels currently being achieved by the best performers.
He also announced that from 2010-11 the top performing Primary Care Trusts will be rewarded with greater freedom and flexibility to enable them to deliver more improvements, more quickly to their local communities.
This elite group of PCTs who have made the most significant impact in improving the quality of healthcare in their local communities, by ensuring patients get the best possible treatment and leading the way on preventing disease – for example quitting smoking services, will benefit from greater control over how they operate.
Mr Burnham added: "Innovation, efficiency, productivity and prevention are what should drive the next stage in creating a people-centred NHS. The best Primary Care Trusts are ably demonstrating that they can respond to the health needs of the people they serve – in particular, tackling the causes of ill health as well as treating it."
He said these top performing PCTs would have even further powers, with greater freedoms and more scope to innovate, including being able to set longer term plans and preferential access to the new Innovation Fund.
He added: "We cannot underestimate the importance of preventing disease. It is estimated that if PCTs improve their performance on key health outcomes such as smoking, alcohol, cardiovascular disease mortality, diabetes and stroke over the next five years this could result in a 10-15% reduction in health inequalities."
Architect of NHS Constitution returns
Burnham is not new to the DH, having been minister of state for delivery and reform from 2006 to 2007. During this time he spent periods shadowing different NHS staff in their everyday work to gain new insight to the health service – something not undertaken by a minister before.
He produced a diary of his experience called 'Days Out in the NHS', which informed his vision and support for reform and the NHS Constitution, which he laid out in 2007.
Burnham also served as a member of the Health Select Committee between 2001 and 2003, and worked as a parliamentary officer to the NHS Confederation during 1997. Before that he served in the Labour opposition health team as a researcher for Tessa Jowell.
Commenting on his new appointment, think tank The King's Fund said it was frustrating to have another change when Alan Johnson had been in post for less than two years, and that it had nothing to do with what is best for the health service.
Chief executive Niall Dickson added more positively: "However, if a change had to be made we welcome the choice of Andy Burnham. He has experience of the health system both as a minister and in his earlier career and he has shown he is committed to the NHS and to reform."
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