NHS productivity not declining: Lancet study
pharmafile | February 13, 2012 | News story | Sales and Marketing | Lancet, Lansley, NHS reform
A new study by the Lancet has shown that productivity in the NHS has improved over the past ten years.
The health secretary Andrew Lansley has often pointed to a decline in productivity as the reason he is embarking on a radical reform of the health service.
But this latest report by the Lancet could undermine Lansley’s plans, as they pass through the latter stages of Parliament.
The report’s author Nick Black, professor of health services research at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said Lansley’s claim that NHS productivity had fallen by 15% over the past ten years was wrong.
Professor Black, who is also an advisor to the Department of Health, said: “Despite such confident statements, rather than declining, the productivity of the NHS has probably improved over the past decade.
“To justify the reforms to the NHS that the Conservative party wanted to introduce, the claim of declining NHS productivity was necessary,” but added that this was based on incorrect data.
Politicians often cite a report by the National Audit Office, published in December 2010, which claimed that hospital productivity had declined by around 1.4% a year.
This conclusion relied on an analysis done by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which showed that overall NHS productivity in the UK declined by 0.4% a year since 2000.
But Prof Black said that the accuracy of this data is questionable, adding that the Department of Health has already acknowledged its shortcomings.
He argues that the measures the ONS used do not reflect the improvements seen in NHS care.
His report points out that between 2000 and 2009, a baby born in 2009 could expect to live three years longer than one born in 2000 – a substantial advance in care which was not taken into account in the ONS data.
The paper does not put a figure on the rise in NHS productivity, and Prof Black admitted that this would need more work.
“It’s beyond the scope of this work,” he said, but added the he was “certain NHS productivity did not drop”.
Andy Burnham, the shadow health secretary for Labour, was quick to jump on this information.
He said: “This analysis is hugely embarrassing for the prime minister. It demolishes an anti-NHS argument that [prime minister David] Cameron and his ministers have repeatedly trotted out.
“Far from falling, NHS productivity increased in the last decade at the same time as the NHS was achieving record patient satisfaction.”
The Health and Social Care Bill is currently being debated in the latter stages in the House of Lords, and is set to become law by April.
It is seeking to put family doctors in charge of the NHS budget whilst also increasing the role of private firms within the health service from 2013.
But the Bill has met with much opposition from patient groups and professional healthcare bodies alike, with many now demanding that the Bill be scrapped.
Ben Adams
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