Recent reforms

How is the NHS organised?

Increased spending

Spending on health is one of the Government's top priorities. Spending on the NHS has increased in real terms for many years: the total in 1996-1997 was ₤35 billion; in 1997-1998 this figure increased to nearly ₤42 billion, which amounts to ₤1,700 for every household in the country.

In July 1998 the Government announced it would provide an extra ₤20 billion over the next three years. That amounts to an increase of 4.7% a year above inflation between 1998-1999 and 2001-2002.

This investment in the NHS is planned to bring a host of improvements to services:

· improve hospitals and GP services

· provide for the largest hospital building plan ever

· reduce waiting lists

· finance reform, based on partnership of all health bodies, with GPs and nurses playing a more important role

· begin to reduce avoidable illness, disease and injury and

· reduce the rate of growth in emergency admissions.

Central Government is directly in charge of the NHS, led by the Secretary of State for Health and a team of ministers at the Department of Health. The Department is responsible for planning a health strategy in England.

Within that department, management of the service is led by the NHS Management Executive. The NHS Management Executive is responsible for developing policies which ensure the quality of health services. The Executive has eight regional offices, which liaise with the health authorities in their region.

Services are administered by a range of health authorities and health boards throughout Britain. There are 100 health authorities in England and five in Wales, 15 health boards in Scotland and four health and social services boards in Northern Ireland. They are all responsible for identifying the health care needs of the people living in their area. They also arrange for services from doctors, dentists, pharmacists and opticians and administers their contracts.

Community health councils (local health councils in Scotland) represent the opinion of local people on the health services provided and on any planned changes.

Health authorities and boards cooperate closely with the local authorities in charge of social work, environmental health, education and other services.

The new Health Act 1999 encourages partnership within the NHS and between the health service and local authorities to improve health care, and has created two bodies to drive quality in the NHS. Its main aspects are:

· the creation of Primary Care Groups and Trusts, teams of GPs, community nurses and social services staff, to take control of most of the NHS budget from April 1999. The new teams put local doctors and nurses in the driving seat in shaping local health care;

· new powers to break down barriers between health and social services and between the NHS and local authorities, to encourage partnership working and deliver health improvements;

· the introduction of new legal duties of quality of care and of partnership to drive up standards of care;

· two new national bodies, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence and the Commission for Health Improvement, to encourage best practice, spread good-value new treatments across the NHS and sort out problems - all to improve quality;

· Health Action Zones, formed in some of the most deprived areas of the country and covering some 13 million people, which will tackle health problems of local people;

· NHS Direct - a 24-hour telephone hotline staffed by nurses to help reduce pressure on hospitals and GPs by giving on-the-stop health advice.

Дата добавления: 2014-01-05