‘Bonfire of the health quangos’: Health secretary Wes Streeting vows to axe NHS groups employing 7,000 staff to cut wasteful spending and bureaucracy
Hundreds of NHS quangos employing 7,000 staff will be axed or merged under plans to cut wasteful spending and bureaucracy.
Wes Streeting aims to simplify regulation, which has failed to prevent tragedies or drive improvements.
As well as the Health Secretary creating clearer lines of accountability, the public will be asked to flag emerging issues by submitting reviews after each appointment through the NHS App.
The scores and comments will be used to help officials to identify poorly performing providers.
Responses will also be made publicly available, so that patients can decide where to have treatment.
There are currently 150 regulatory bodies assessing care quality and providing guidelines to staff.
But the Department of Health and Social Care describes the number of recommendations issued as ‘overwhelming’.
It means managers and frontline workers risk missing critical information, leading to repeated failings in care homes, hospitals and GP surgeries.
Wes Streeting, pictured on Tuesday, aims to simplify regulation, which has failed to prevent tragedies or drive improvements
The public will also be asked to flag emerging issues by submitting reviews after each appointment through the NHS App (Stock Photo)
The Government will abolish many of those organisations – including the Health Services Safety Investigations Body, the National Guardian’s Office and Healthwatch England. It will also close Commissioning Support Units and abolish Integrated Care Partnerships.
In total, Mr Streeting’s ‘bonfire of NHS quangos’ will abolish 201 bodies, with budgets of more than a quarter-of-a-billion pounds.
The Care Quality Commission will take responsibility for overseeing safety, while the National Quality Board will provide a single set of care quality standards.
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Labour’s latest plan for the health service? AI doctors on the NHS app
It comes after Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced earlier this year that he plans to abolish NHS England, with its work moved in to the Department of Health and Social Care.
Details of the further cuts will be unveiled as part of Labour’s Ten Year Health Plan, to be published later this week.
The move has been shaped by the findings of a review into patient safety by Dr Penny Dash, the chairman of NHS England.
Mr Streeting told the Daily Mail: ‘Over the past decade and a half, an overly complex system of healthcare regulation has been left to spiral out of control. Our Ten Year Health Plan will tear through this tangled web of bureaucracy, cut wasteful spending and reinvest the savings in frontline care.
‘Our reforms will cut unnecessary bureaucracy, and liberate staff to deliver safe, timely care for patients.’
Professor Nicola Ranger, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said: ‘Protecting patients has to be the priority and not just a drive for efficiency.’
Labour’s latest plan for the health service? Discuss your health issues with AI doctors on the NHS app
Patients will discuss their health issues with an ‘AI GP’ on the NHS App under Labour’s ten-year plan for the health service.
Wes Streeting wants to make the interactive assistant the first port of call for sick Britons in search of medical advice.
The health secretary said it will use artificial intelligence to help triage users’ ailments, so they can be directed to the most appropriate place for care.
This may include simple guidance on the NHS website, a local pharmacy or A&E.
A new My Choices tool will show users which hospitals have the best ratings and shortest waiting lists and allow them to pick where they are treated.
And a My Companion feature will suggest illness-specific questions patients can pose to their doctor during face-to-face appointments.
Mr Streeting revealed details of the app updates during a visit to Blackpool yesterday, ahead of the expected publication of the NHS ten-year plan next week.
Speaking at the local football stadium, he said the NHS has an ‘important role to play’ when it comes to getting patients off waiting lists and back to work, and should also act ‘as an engine of local economic growth’.
Mr Streeting said the NHS App will be improved to ‘empower patients with choice and control’ and will be ‘evolutionary and revolutionary’
He also announced a new pilot scheme which will aim to recruit an extra 1,000 NHS staff from areas worst affected by unemployment, including those with physical disabilities and autism.
Mr Streeting said the NHS App will be improved to ‘empower patients with choice and control’ and will be ‘evolutionary and revolutionary.’ He added: ‘I think having that doctor in your pocket and someone to kind of guide you through your care will be quite powerful for people.’
