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Health
A lively debate at the July NPF meeting, 2006
By Martin Phillips
We held two workshops on health during the weekend. Our Friday discussion was dominated by a Guardian story – the story claimed that the government were planning to privatise the entire management of the NHS. Patricia Hewitt gave us a copy of her statement to newspapers, stating that some NHS trusts wanted to bring in outside advisors on management systems like accounting and statistics. An advert in the EU journal to allow this had been badly worded and suggested the entire NHS management was to be privatised. I called for an enquiry into how this could happen. It will also not be compulsory for any PCT to use any outside supplier, although it is obvious that some trusts need to get help in areas like accounting.
We also discussed private involvement in the NHS, with a wide range of views, from “No private involvement at all” to the current amount – no one position held a majority. The current level was certainly regarded as the “high water mark”, to decline as waiting lists are eliminated. The group agreed that alternative provision should be used where the NHS could not provide services needed by local communities, such as the example we discussed of GP services in Barking, where the NHS has been unable to recruit GPs.
The other major theme of the weekend was how we could change NHS culture so that all managers feel accountable for their actions and how patients can be assured a high quality, consistent service. At my instigation, we discussed how local councillors could act as patient champions and scrutinise local health delivery – my question was welcomed in the consultation document. This idea is already being discussed at national level, as councillors can play a vital role in ensuring that local health services provide the standard of care that the community want. An extra question was also added on the choice debate: “How do we get the NHS to be more responsive to increased patient demand for choice?”
Overall the NPF welcomed the Health document and the modifications asked for were to add rather than alter. We take this as a sign that we are going in the right direction!