Guest 645- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 4,463
#1
The NHS needs to cut the number of hospitals and consultants, one of its former chief executives has said. Lord Crisp, who led the service under Tony Blair from 2000 to 2006, said a new "vision" is needed for it to improve.
He told The Daily Telegraph: "This is about releasing money from the old infrastructure to put into the new, and it's about moving from the 20th century model of healthcare to the 21st.
"They're putting GPs in the driving seat, which may or may not be a good thing, but they're not concentrating on what really needs to be done, which is building a different sort of NHS.
"I think they need to set out a vision for the NHS and I just don't think they've done it."
The former chief told the newspaper the current infrastructure was "inefficient" and it "isn't being used to its full capacity".
He said: "You've got beds closed and people not working to their full capacity because there are too many sites. In some ways we provide too many very highly- trained people who then have to work below their capacity.
"If you're going to effect the cost base of the NHS you're going to have to effect the staff costs, and some of that will be about changing the staff mix rather than just changing numbers - changing the staffing pyramid so there are more people at the base and not so many at the top."
David Stout, the deputy chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said if the organisation was to improve, it was "likely" some hospitals would be shut down and care would be provided differently in the community.
He said: "NHS leaders will have to make some tough decisions if the health service is to live within its means. This is a pressing issue and one that we must tackle now so that patients can continue to have access to the high quality care they expect."
Marek
I think therefore I am (not a Tory supporter)
Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
#2
cor blimy,so they less hospitals.some bad news the ones we got now cant cope let alone with less.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#3
it is something worth looking at, many procedures could well be carried out in doctors surgeries.
none of us like going to a hospital if we can help it and the time expended travelling to and fro costs the country a lot of money.
Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,931
#4
"Lord Crisp, who led the service under Tony Blair from 2000 to 2006, said a new "vision" is needed for it to improve." Why did he not do this why he was in charge!
A friend needed an urgent blood test because she is on chemotherapy, the practice nurse and Buckland could not do it so she had to get a friend to take her to Canterbury. Why not at Buckland when it is urgent, not so long ago she would have popped into Buckland and had her blood test after a short wait, so much for our improved NHS.
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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#5
I can only agree with that. We are supposed to have more choice: well, I choose to have better healthcare provided local to me and my family.
I have to say, though, that it is important to re-evaluate how we deliver care and support. Hospitals matter for some things, but people thrive better at home and prefer to stay there. Care homes, hospitals and the like, while they serve a purpose, are limited. Community, home-based care and support is the way to go, and opens up so many opportunities.