Press release: NHS Confederation responds to Next Stage Review
30 Jun 2008
The proposals put forward by Professor Lord Darzi will enable a major improvement in quality of care and patient experience if the NHS at a local level is given the space to make the changes, said the NHS Confederation in response to the launch of the NHS Next Stage Review.
Steve Barnett, acting chief executive of the NHS Confederation said, "The review contains most of the ideas NHS leaders told us they wanted. In particular, we think the combination of three powerful ideas running through the report could make a major difference: patients being aware of their rights, choices and information; industrial scale feedback and measurement of quality and patient experience; and, capitalising on the motivation of NHS professionals to provide the best possible care with peer review and competitiveness. Together this should provide an additional powerful motor for change in the NHS."
The NHS Confederation warned that to be successful implementation must be led locally. Steve Barnett urged the Government, "The proposals appear to be highly permissive and could mark a shift in the NHS towards local control if embedded. The Department of Health will need to resist the temptation to prescribe nationally and local staff will need to avoid looking upwards for direction. Local delivery requires local leadership and local really must mean local."
The Confederation welcomed the emphasis on local leadership in the review but cautioned this needs to be followed through consistently in the approach to leadership development. Steve Barnett said, "We argued in the review for an emphasis on middle managers and clinical leaders, not just the top leaders, because the real difference will come from leaders at the front line and the service itself."
On workforce planning, Steve Barnett commented, "We have consistently called for an employer-driven system of workforce planning and are pleased to see that the report endorses that principle. However, from the machinery described to support workforce planning, it is not clear that the employer role will be central and we will be discussing with the DH how a system of employer-led planning can be developed.
The NHS Confederation called on the Government to introduce no new national targets or major system-wide reviews in the medium term. Steve Barnett said, "The service will be glad the review didn't set any new national targets and will want this to continue to be the case."
In advance of the review, the Confederation set out a number of tests for policy and implementation. Steve Barnett said, "One of our tests was 'is the policy joined up both within the Department of Health and between different parts of Government?'. With a separate review of social care and health inequalities strategy, we are concerned that these important areas are at the heart of the agenda."
Notes for editors
Read a copy of the NHS Confederation's 'Challenges for Darzi' document and further information on the review
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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