Press release: Joint news release - the NHS Confederation and the Royal College of Physicians: the hospital in 2010: a quantum shift?
03 Aug 2001
The Royal College of Physicians and the NHS Confederation have established a small working group to develop ideas on how the acute hospital needs to change over the next 10 years. The group, which will have its first meeting in September, will tackle the one of the biggest problems faced by the NHS - the organisation and delivery of acute emergency services in hospitals.
Changes in medicine, in workforce and in the expectations of patients mean that the old way of delivering health care needs fundamental change. Many new ideas have come into play, which have helped, but in the long term the only solution is a radical rethink of how these services are delivered.
There need to be major changes from the traditional NHS District General Hospital and a quantum shift in thinking about and delivery of hospital services. One model involves a small number of 24 hour highly specialised emergency centres with a large number of triage centres based in the community supported by community hospitals. Other, more radical options will be explored by the group.
Professor Sir George Alberti, President of the Royal College of Physicians, stated:
"We need completely new thinking to solve the problem - not just refinements of the current system."
Welcoming the move Nigel Edwards, Policy Director of NHS Confederation said:
"We have all known for some time that the current model of hospital care is changing radically; it is time to engage politicians, policy makers and in particular the wider public in this discussion.
"The NHS Confederation particularly welcomes the willingness of the Royal College of Physicians to think about innovative and radical new ways of training doctors and staffing emergency services and we look forward to working with them."
Notes for editors
- The NHS Confederation is the voice of NHS management. Our members include
the majority of NHS trusts, primary care trusts and health authorities in England; trusts and health authorities in Wales; trusts and health boards in Scotland; and health and social services trusts and boards in Northern Ireland.
- The Royal College of Physicians is the body responsible for the postgraduate education and training of physicians in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The RCP has produced several reports on issues surrounding acute medicine and held a one-day conference on this issue in July
Contact details
- RCP: PR Manager Linda Cuthbertson on 020 7935 1174 ext.254, 0794 105 7494 or e-mail Linda.Cuthbertson@rcplondon.ac.uk
- Contact Media Relations Manager Joanna Clason on 020 7074 3306 or 07798 571078 or Senior Media Officer Amy Darlington on 020 7074 3304 or 07767 770309. For out of hours media enquiries, please call the Duty Press Officer on 07880 500726.
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