A major upheaval of the NHS, the biggest in a generation, will see GPs placed at the centre of the healthcare agenda.
The White Paper, announced by the Health Secretary Andrew Lansley, places greater responsibility on England’s 35,000 family doctors who will be given 80% of the NHS budget to spend on commissioning patient treatment and services. It is part of a five-year plan by the coalition government which aims to scrap the 10 strategic health authorities and the 150 primary care trusts meaning up to 30,000 managers could lose their jobs or face redeployment. It aims to use GPs as private businesses in effect, providing services to the NHS and helping patients decide which hospital to use on the basis of detailed success rates.
Lansley admitted that jobs could go in the health service but said that it was vital to cut bureaucracy and provide more money for frontline services. He told the House of Commons: “The sick must not pay for the debt crisis left by the previous administration. But the NHS is a priority for reform too. Investment has not been matched by reform. So we will reform the NHS to use those resources more effectively for the benefit of patients.” The government has announced that the NHS budget will be increased in real-terms although it will be less than the 4% annual increases it has received in the past.
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