Press release: Comment on Patricia Hewitt's speech to the IPPR

19 Sep 2006

Commenting on Patricia Hewitt's speech to the IPPR, Nigel Edwards, Director of Policy at the NHS Confederation which represents over 90 per cent of NHS organisations, said:

"The NHS Confederation welcomes the Secretary of State's commitment to devolve more power and freedoms to local health organisations. The boards of NHS trusts need to be given full responsibility and accountability for the tough decisions that lie ahead to improve the health of the people they serve. But it is vitally important that NHS managers are given the political support to make the difficult and challenging decisions on the ground.

"Our members will also welcome the Secretary of State's announcement that she will cut the number of national targets and enable the NHS locally to focus more on patient outcomes.

"Whilst targets have a role, the danger is that we chase and hit them, but miss the point and fail to make care better. NHS Confederation members have called for some time for a better measurement of success that truly reflects patient experience so that the service can focus on what matters most and prove value for tax-payers' money."

Commenting on the recent debate on hospital reconfigurations and possible closures, Nigel Edwards said:
"There has been a longstanding debate about the need to change and adapt NHS services to reflect modern healthcare and move more patient care into the community and out of hospitals.

"Most of the decisions to shift services in this way have been under discussion for some time. And in a number of areas, the decision to change or close services is a way of dealing with longstanding issues of over-capacity.

"These changes in the way health services are configured locally would be necessary whether or not there are NHS deficits. Indeed, in some cases the reason why trusts have run up deficits in the first place is because these decisions were not made earlier.

"We need to get away from the fixation with buildings. We should recognise that services can be delivered in many settings and that proximity to a hospital may be less important than the ability to access the right services for a patient's needs."

ENDS

Notes for editors

The NHS Confederation represents more than 90% of the organisations that make up the NHS. Its members include the majority of NHS acute trusts, ambulance trusts, foundation trusts, mental health trusts, primary care trusts, special health authorities and strategic health authorities in England; trusts and local health boards in Wales; and health and social service trusts and boards in Northern Ireland.

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