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January 7 2008
PM announces new reforms for NHS and more screening
The Prime Minister has outlined a programme of "deeper and wider" reform of the National Health Service to enhance its role in care, prevention and personalised health services.
January 23 2008
Healthy living strategy announced
A £372m strategy aimed at cutting levels of obesity in England has been launched by the government.
The strategy includes £75m for an "aggressive" campaign to promote healthy living to parents. Several "healthy towns" will be created at a cost of £30m with comprehensive cycle routes and pedestrian areas. Ministers said measures could potentially include offering obese people vouchers for gyms as an incentive to exercise.
Announcing the strategy, Health Secretary Alan Johnson said food labelling was also key to helping people eat well, and said regulation may be needed if industry could not agree on one system.
January 25 2008
More money for maternity services
Alan Johnson, Labour’s Health Secretary, has announced extra funding for maternity services in England that will increase over the next three years to reach an additional £122 million annually.
The extra funding will support the implementation of Maternity Matters – the Labour government’s maternity strategy that will modernise options for place of birth; improve flexibility of maternity services’ opening times; and increase workforce capacity within maternity and neonatal services to meet the needs of individual populations.
February 4 2008
Alan Johnson asks GPs to open surgeries for longer
Alan Johnson is writing to all GPs to ask them to opne their surgeries for longer. Surveys have shown that patients would like to see surgeries open for longer into the evening and on Saturdays.
February 5 2008
Fluoridation drive launched
Alan Johnson announced a drive to increase the use of fluoride in drinking water. He has started a public debate on the issue and asked Strategic Health Authorities to consider the measure, which can have a massive effect on dental health. Currently only 10% of drinking water has fluoride added.
February 25 2008
Extra 4,000 midwives for the NHS
A package of measures to recruit an extra 4,000 midwives over the next three years has been announced by Alan Johnson MP, Labour’s Health Secretary.
Announced during a visit to the Royal Victoria Infirmary maternity unit in Newcastle, the new measures include giving former midwives an incentive to return to work after a break in service.
A Return to Practice campaign in the summer, launched by the Department of Health and the Royal College of Midwives, will include a package of incentives including free training, support with childcare, child costs and a grant of up to £1,500. The total value of the incentive to return to the service will be around £3,000.
March 6 2008
GPs agree extra hours
Today the British Medical Association announced that members had voted to extend surgery hours. The average GP practice will be opne for an extra 3 hours either in evenings or at the weekend. The government aksed GPs to consider this after a 2006 survey showed that nearly 6.5 million patients were dissatisfied with the opening hours of their GP surgery.
May 12th 2008 PM launches debate on social care
Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Health Secretary Alan Johnson today launched an intense six month debate about the future shape of care and support services.
Over the next six months, the government will be asking the public and stakeholders at a series of regional events for their views about care and support to create a new system that:
Promotes independence, choice and control for everyone who uses the care and support system.
Ensures everyone can receive the high quality care and support they need, and that government support should be targeted at those most in need.
Is affordable for government, individuals and families in the long-term.
The public will be able to contribute to the debate through a series of events and through a new national website www.careandsupport.direct.gov.uk
May 14 2008
Draft Queen's Speech
The Draft Queen's Speech includes a new NHS Reform Bill to establish an NHS constitution that sets out entitlements to minimum standards of access, quality and safety and also grant patients new rights to obtain information about their care.
Hospital income will be dependent on how well they treat patients, and the bill will include the first NHS constitution.
June 27 2008
Increased role for social enterprises in the NHS
The Prime Minister released a Cabinet Office report today that called for an increased role for nurses in providing community health services. The report also said that these services should be provided through not-for-profit social enterprise companies like a successful pilot in Surrey. More details here.
June 30 2008
Lord Darzi's report - building a personal patient-led NHS
Today Alan Johnson MP, Labour's Health Secretary, announced the results of Lord Darzi's year-long review of the NHS - "High Quality Care For All". The Next Stage Review is part of Labour's mission for a fairer Britain. It builds on the progress made in delivering the vision set out in the NHS Plan and the Government's reform agenda, to identify the way forward for a 21st century NHS which is clinically driven, patient-centred, responsive to local communities, and to deliver consistently high quality of care for everyone.
The Next Stage Review has been a clinically-led local process. Proposals for service changes are being developed and agreed locally, based on the clinical evidence and the needs and preferences of the local community. The Review will:
Give patients even greater influence over the services they use by guaranteeing fairness, choice and access to the most clinically and cost effective drugs and treatments and ending the so-called "postcode lottery" on new drugs and treatments.
Make healthcare more personal by ensuring that everyone with a long-term condition has their own personalised care plan and by piloting personal health budgets.
Create an NHS that helps people to stay healthy by rolling out a new national programme of vascular risk assessment for people aged between 40 and 74, and rewarding family doctors for focusing on prevention and early intervention.
Raise the standards on quality within the NHS by systematically measuring and publishing information about the quality of care from the frontline up.
Foster a pioneering NHS by introducing new funds and prizes to support and reward innovation, and developing new best practice tariffs targeted on areas for improvement.
Empower frontline staff by enabling them to lead and manage their organisations and improving the quality of NHS education and training.
July 1 2008
New NHS Constitution - enshrining the values of the NHS
Secretary of State Alan Johnson, launched a draft NHS Constitution for consultation today. He said:
"This is a momentous point in the history of the NHS. As we approach the 60th anniversary of our health service, it is striking how its founding principles still endure and have resonance for staff, patients and public alike.
"The content of the Constitution was not dreamt up by me or civil servants in Whitehall . It is something that has arisen out of discussions with thousands of NHS staff and patients across the country.
For patients, the Constitution collects together important rights around access to drugs and treatments, health services, information, quality of care and environment, dignity & respect and complaint and redress.
November 19 2008
Better deal on NHS drug prices
The Labour Government has finalised a deal with the pharmaceutical industry that will allow more patients to benefit from a wider range of drug treatments at a fair cost to the NHS.The flexible pricing scheme agreed will cut the price of many drugs to the NHS while encouraging continued innovation in the industry – allowing patients to have faster access to new medicines which are clinically and cost effective.
November 18 2008
Child mental health services boosted
Children’s mental health services will be radically improved by a package of measures including a National Advisory Council and the roll-out of extra support for children in schools, Children’s Secretary Ed Balls and Health Secretary Alan Johnson announced today. Responding to a key recommendation in the review, today we are establishing a new National Advisory Council on Children’s Mental Health and Psychological Wellbeing. The Council will have a remit to ensure that the recommendations in the review are addressed and the Government is held to account on progress.
Roll out of the £20m phase two of the targeted mental health support pathfinder programme between 2009-11. There will also be £500,000 in extra funding for a number of existing authorities to develop work with their special schools and pupil referral units
• Additional funding of £500,000to improve helpline support for parents/carers who are concerned about their children’s mental health
• A national programme of support for local services, to help them deliver the vision set out in the report
Other Health Pages
Commission Work Programme 2007
Health report August 2006
Health report June 2006
Health report January 2006
Commission Work Programme 2006