Queen’s Speech – Health Bill
“The voice of patients and the role of doctors will be strengthened in the National Health Service.”
The purpose is to:
Implement the Government’s proposals for a sustainable national framework for the NHS; to support a patient led NHS focused on outcomes; and to deliver on the commitment to reduce bureaucracy.
The main benefits:
-
To create an NHS led by clinical decision-makers that is more responsive to patients and fosters continuous quality improvements
-
To help shape a healthcare system that drives up standards of care, eliminates waste and achieves outcomes that is amongst the best in the world
-
To focus more on patients, ensuring they genuinely share in making decisions about their care and have more choice and control
The main elements:
-
To establish an independent NHS Board to allocate resources and provide commissioning guidance, and to allow GPs to commission services on behalf of their patients
-
To improve efficiency and outcomes by strengthening the role of the Care Quality Commission and developing Monitor into an economic regulator to oversee aspects of access and competition in the NHS
-
To take forward proposals to significantly cut the number of health quangos, helping cut the cost of NHS administration by a third
Effect on private medical insurance:
Private medical insurance: News update: 29 May 2010
