Lansley Set to Outline New NHS Reforms
Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley is set to outline 60 health reforms to improve NHS medical and dental services.
Mr Lansley will unveil a new system of assessing health professionals and hospitals in a bid to save more than 20,000 lives each year. Standards will be judged against 60 key criteria, which include care for patients with chronic illnesses, access to primary care services, including GP and NHS dental services and life expectancy.
Individual professionals will also be monitored to ensure that high standards of care are delivered and patients will be invited to leave feedback and share their experiences.
The Health Secretary said that he was focusing on key issues by unveiling the new reforms, which will replace the criteria set out by the Labour government. Mr Lansley said that if hospitals and individuals meet targets, more than 20,000 premature deaths could be avoided each year. Standards will be monitored through data analysis as well as patient feedback and Mr Lansley said that patients will be heavily involved in the assessment of the health service, as they have the opportunity to say whether the care they received was good enough and suggest possible improvements.
For the first time, children and bereaved relatives will also be surveyed, so that the responses are available across the patient spectrum.
The 60 point plan includes a benchmark for access to dental services, as in recent years millions of pounds have been invested in dental services but access is still a problem in some areas. The government is also keen to promote preventative services in a bid to reduce the rate of oral health diseases and cut the cost of dental care in the future.
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