NHS framework outlines GP consortia assessment plans
pharmafile | December 21, 2010 | News story | | GP consortia, NHS, NHS Commissioning Board, NHS Outcomes Framework, NHS reform
The government has published details of how the new GP-led consortia, which will commission health services in the future, will be measured.
The NHS Outcomes Framework is an attempt to move “away from centrally driven process targets that get in the way of patient care” and will aim to compare the NHS to other country’s health services.
“Our focus on improving health outcomes will give the NHS, public health organisations and local government a benchmark for what the public expects to see from their health services,” said health secretary Andrew Lansley.
The document sets the “direction of travel”, and “robust, continuing measurement” of these outcomes is key to the success of the government’s plans and of holding the proposed NHS Commissioning Board and GP consortia to account, he adds.
“The NHS Outcomes Framework will provide patients with a clear national indication of how the NHS is working to improve the quality of service it already gives, and address the inequalities seen in health outcomes,” Lansley says.
Five areas – preventing premature deaths, enhancing the quality of life for those with long-term conditions, aiding recovery from illness or injury, ensuring people have a positive experience of care, and creating a safe environment – will be a particular focus.
Publication follows an NHS White Paper and the consultation Transparency in outcomes – a framework for the NHS.
Disquiet over the pace of reform of the public health system has led critics such as the BMA and King’s Fund to suggest that the government should not be so keen to dismantle existing systems.
And the document is published against the backdrop of a key cabinet minister appearing to agree with this view, describing the shake-up of the NHS as “Maoist”.
Business secretary Vince Cable was quoted by undercover reporters from The Daily Telegraph as saying: “There is a kind of Maoist revolution happening in a lot of areas like the health service.”
Compounding the embarrassment for the government and himself, Cable implied that the changes were too fast, saying: “They haven’t thought them through. We should be putting a brake on it.”
Adam Hill
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