The NHS is being primed for another year of change as Sajid Javid vowed 2022 would be the “year of reform” for the health service.
The health and social care secretary, who marked 100 days since succeeding Matt Hancock this week, insisted the reforms were “absolutely necessary” and had to happen sooner rather than later.
Speaking at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester on Monday, he said: “It can’t just be about [more] resources.
“[The money the NHS gets] has to go a lot further, so it doesn’t just become about how we can get more money.”
Initial reactions from some were tepid, but of course that was all before The Times’ front-page splash suggested NHS bosses faced the hook if they failed to clear waiting times quickly enough.
It is slightly ironic then that, during the conference, Mr Javid said he also wanted NHS staff to feel “valued”.
Does that extend to the NHS managers who will supposedly be on the chopping block should they not get through waits soon enough?
Ministers believe this is the right way forward, but others argue whether it is the best approach given the resources at hand to carry it all out.
Called off
The private provider of the 111 service in a London heath economy is losing its contract after claims that less than one in three calls were answered – against a target of 95 per cent .
Vocare has provided the 111 service in south west London as part of an integrated urgent care contract since 2016 but its performance has now been judged “”well below acceptable levels”.
South West London Clinical Commissioning Group has brought in the London Ambulance Service Trust as a “resilience partner”, its board papers for October reveal.
The CCG’s board papers cited the “one in three” statistic and said that the number of abandoned calls was 15 per cent in August, a small improvement on the previous month, but still well above the 5 per cent target.
This performance was described as “still well below acceptable levels”. Read HSJ’s story here.
https://www.hsj.co.uk/daily-insight/daily-insight-off-with-their-heads/7031035.article
