Boris Johnson plans radical shake-up of NHS (England) in bid to regain more direct control

[Northerner]

Boris Johnson is planning a radical and politically risky reorganisation of the NHS amid government frustration at the health service’s chief executive, Simon Stevens, the Guardian has learned.
https://www.theguardian.com/society...ris-johnson-restructing-plan-mean-for-the-nhs
The prime minister has set up a taskforce to devise plans for how ministers can regain much of the direct control over the NHS they lost in 2012 under a controversial shake-up masterminded by Andrew Lansley, the then coalition government health secretary.

The Prime Minister’s Health and Social Care Taskforce – made up of senior civil servants and advisers from Downing Street, the Treasury and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) – is drawing up proposals that would restrict NHS England’s operational independence and the freedom Stevens has to run the service.

In the summer, the taskforce will present Johnson with a set of detailed options to achieve that goal, and that will be followed by a parliamentary bill to enact the proposals, it is understood.

Boris Johnson plans radical shake-up of NHS in bid to regain more direct control

Exclusive: health secretary said to be frustrated by his lack of authority over NHS England boss Simon Stevens

www.theguardian.com

Give Hancock direct control over the NHS? Erm... Just what the NHS needs after a decade of underfunding, dealing with a pandemic and now with a massive backlog And what's this about the government being annoyed about waiting times and blaming the hospitals? Sounds about as convincing as saying care homes were the architects of the disastrous death toll from the virus 🙄

p.s. @mikeyB - I remembered to put the 'England' in 🙂

 

[Vonny]

Boris Johnson is planning a radical and politically risky reorganisation of the NHS amid government frustration at the health service’s chief executive, Simon Stevens, the Guardian has learned.
https://www.theguardian.com/society...ris-johnson-restructing-plan-mean-for-the-nhs
The prime minister has set up a taskforce to devise plans for how ministers can regain much of the direct control over the NHS they lost in 2012 under a controversial shake-up masterminded by Andrew Lansley, the then coalition government health secretary.

The Prime Minister’s Health and Social Care Taskforce – made up of senior civil servants and advisers from Downing Street, the Treasury and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) – is drawing up proposals that would restrict NHS England’s operational independence and the freedom Stevens has to run the service.

In the summer, the taskforce will present Johnson with a set of detailed options to achieve that goal, and that will be followed by a parliamentary bill to enact the proposals, it is understood.

Boris Johnson plans radical shake-up of NHS in bid to regain more direct control

Exclusive: health secretary said to be frustrated by his lack of authority over NHS England boss Simon Stevens

www.theguardian.com

Give Hancock direct control over the NHS? Erm... Just what the NHS needs after a decade of underfunding, dealing with a pandemic and now with a massive backlog And what's this about the government being annoyed about waiting times and blaming the hospitals? Sounds about as convincing as saying care homes were the architects of the disastrous death toll from the virus 🙄

p.s. @mikeyB - I remembered to put the 'England' in 🙂

I saw this when my Guardian updates pinged my phone...I found it too depressing to read and just closed the brower!

 

[Bruce Stephens]

From the outside it doesn't seem like PHE has covered itself with glory. On the other hand it also seems hard to believe that more central control could be a useful improvement.

Setting up local groups of hospitals and foundation trusts and things doesn't seem a terrible idea. We could call them, oh, I don't know, district health authorities? (We could do the same for education to provide some coherence to the various schools and things in an area. I'd suggest "local education authority" could be a name for one of those.)

 

[grovesy]

Over the years there have been lots of reorganizations, with various layers done away with then to be replaced with something else a few years later.

 

[Northerner]

Johnson and Cummings want to centralise control of everything. Interestingly, I read another article today saying how the UK government's handling of the virus has boosted the support for independence in Scotland and particularly Wales, and the upcoming Brexit arrangements are increasingly likely to trigger a united Ireland vote. The divergence of approach has highlighted the differences between the 'English' NHS and devolved NHS as up until now (@mikeyB's frequently made point) when the NHS has been mentioned it really means NHS England, not the NHS as a whole.

 

[mikeyB]

What will more direct control mean? Or is this just a smokescreen created to imply that it was the fault of the NHS not to have enough PPE and intensive care kit to pass on the blame for the highest death rate in Europe?

Boris might think now is the time to rush through privatisation plans, but he is facing a population that has been applauding the work of the NHS during the Covid crisis. Deservedly. Folk won't forget that.

It's also a distraction from what really needs to be reorganised, and that is the care home system. I know I get boring about Scotland, but end of life care is integrated with the NHS in Scotland. It's also free.

 

[trophywench]

Well .... if it's Simon Stevens' fault that the NHS hasn't immediately been able to recruit all the staff they have been short of for a good many years obviously that alone will be immediately solve so many things within the NHS won't it?

What was that really old saying, something to do with the headcount of Chiefs and Indians...........