NHS Efficiency and Productivity 2011:An Agenda for Reform

“When it comes to the future...we have to be the architects of solutions to help us triumph over circumstances. We need a clear strategy based on strong values and clear principles.

“First, a patient-centred NHS, ‘no decision about me, without me’. Second, an outcomes focus for the health service and third, the devolution of decision-making, close to those who are responsible for the service delivered and wherever possible into the hands of those who are the service beneficiaries.”

Rt. Hon. Secretary of State, Andrew Lansley MP

Govtoday presents NHS Efficiency and Productivity: An Agenda for Reform Conference and Exhibition, which will be held on the 13th October 2011 at The Brewery, the City of London.

As part of our ‘Efficiency and Productivity’ series of events, this annual Conference will evaluate the latest policies and best practice to emerge from both the Government and the healthcare sector in order to drive the Sustainability of our National Health Service (NHS).

As the largest publicly-funded health service in the world, the NHS provides for the healthcare needs of everyone, free at the point of delivery and in England, according to the National Audit Office Report published on 20th January 2011, “caters to a population of 51 million, employs more than 1.3 million and deals with a million patients every 36 hours”.

However, the rising costs of healthcare and an ever-increasing demand on the Service, compounded by an ageing population, means that the NHS is unsustainable in the long term in its current format. Consequently, consecutive Governments have tried to address the problem, with the current Government embarking on an unprecedented Reform process as set out in the Health and Social Care Bill; with reference to the NHS White Paper ‘Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS’ and the subsequent ‘Legislative Framework and next steps’, which gives a legal duty to continue to improve efficiency, productivity and quality outcomes for patient care.

These reforms are part of the Government’s wider approach to reforming public services, with this particular ambitious vision about long-term transformational change for the NHS based around three key purposes:

• To put patients first - ‘no decision is made about them, without them’;
• To focus on outcomes - build a culture of evidence and evaluation, using innovation and evidence to provide quality care;
• To empower NHS staff - take decision-making closer to patients, combining clinical decision-making with the use of resources.

However, the passage of the Bill through Parliament and the extensive reforms proposed have inevitably encountered widespread concern. On the 5th April 2011, the Commons Health Committee made a number of key amendments to the Bill, with David Cameron announcing a ‘listening exercise’ to address these concerns.

Irrespective of this, with 89 per cent of the health budget - £99.8 billion in 2009-10 - spent within the NHS, and in line with policies to reduce the Budget deficit, the CSR in October 2010, the Government aims to deliver £20 billion (4%) efficiency savings in the NHS by the end of 2014-15. This will include a 33 per cent saving in administrative costs across parts of the health sector achieved through: ‘a combination of significant simplification of management layers, rationalising arm’s-length bodies and removing unnecessary functions’.

The Government insists that the scale of this efficiency challenge, taken together with the delivery plans to improve quality and productivity, ‘can only be met by an extensive array of new mechanisms for system-wide reform’.

Consequently, the challenge at present for health professionals is how to manage this reform process - in particular, the current transitional phase of development and investment in health services - balancing increased demand from patients with the requirement for productivity and efficiency, whilst maintaining excellent, quality care.

NHS Efficiency and Productivity: An Agenda for Reform will assess the progress of this reform and delivery process, with renowned experts from the health sector, examining best practice in the commissioning, provision and clinical performance of our National Health Service.