Press release: NHS Confederation comments on the Queen's speech
06 Nov 2007
Commenting on the Health and Social Care Bill, Dr Gill Morgan, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents 95% of NHS Organisations said:
"We welcome the creation of a new health and social care regulator as a definite move in the right direction. The new regulator should be driven by three guiding principles:
"First, the Care Quality Commission must drive up standards across the NHS and not increase the regulatory and bureaucratic burden on NHS organisations. Regulators must make the case for additional information on the basis of their legal remit.
"Second, we would like to see a risk based model centred on self assessment - building on the new approach of the annual health check. The Commission should also learn from other regulators such as Ofcom and the FSA which tailor their work according to the type and size of organisation they are looking at.
"Finally, the new regulator must not signal a 'year zero' approach that discards what has gone before. It is important for the public at large that there is a clear sense of continuity so that they are reassured about who is monitoring their health services and where they should go to for information about their local NHS organisations.
Commenting on the Climate Change Bill, Dr Gill Morgan said:
"We welcome today's announcement that the United Kingdom will be the first nation to introduce a legally binding framework to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
"We would urge the government to take up the NHS Confederation's recommendation to include a health expert in the new Committee on Climate Change; given this is such an important challenge for the NHS.
"The NHS, as one of the world's largest and resource-hungry public services, has a major role to play in tackling climate change. Furthermore, as the UK's largest employer, the NHS can help promote positive changes in attitude among its 1.3 million staff. NHS leaders are already doing a great deal to address the problem of climate change, and our research shows they feel they should do more to deal with this critical issue.
"Our recent report - Taking the temperature - revealed that the NHS will have to work hard to reduce its energy consumption and meet the UK energy white paper's target of reducing emissions to 20 per cent below 1990 levels by 2010 and 60 per cent by 2050. The sheer scale of the NHS, with one million patient contacts every 36 hours, means the organisation has a considerable carbon footprint, but also the potential to promote positive change."
ENDS
Notes for editors
1. Taking the temperature is available here: Taking the temperature: Towards an NHS response to global warming
2. Survey of NHS chief executives, chairs and PEC chairs (336 responses)
Local NHS organisations should make reducing their carbon footprint a major priority.
Strongly agree 23.8%
Tend to agree 46.1%
Neither agree nor disagree 15.8%
Tend to disagree 11.6%
Strongly disagree 2.7%
3. The NHS Confederation represents more than 95% 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.
Contact details
Contact Niall Smith 020 7074 3304 or 07767 770309, Ruth Kennedy 020 7074 3312 or 07884 47 3086, or Ruby Casey-Knight 020 7074 3306 or 07881 957305. For out of hours media enquiries, please call the Duty Press Officer on 07880 500726.
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