It is vital independent providers play their part in getting the NHS back on its feet.
This is according to David Hare, CEO of the Independent Healthcare Providers Network (IHPN) (pictured), who was commenting on Lord Darzi’s report laying bare the challenge facing the NHS amid a deterioration of the health of the nation over the past 15 years, record wait times for treatment, and higher cancer rates in the UK than other countries.
All parts of health system have a role to play
Hare said: “As this important report makes clear, the NHS faces huge challenges both in providing patients with the high quality, accessible care they need, as well as ensuring tax payers are getting value for money from record levels of expenditure, with an explicit call to ‘re-empower patients’ so they can take as much control of their care as possible.
“Given the scale of the task ahead in getting the NHS back on track, it’s vital that all parts of the health system come together to play their role in ensuring the public get the health service they deserve,” Hare added.
“Independent providers already deliver care to millions of NHS patients each year across every part of England.
“We are ambitious and positive about what can be done over the next decade to improve the NHS, including by unlocking the long-term potential of independent healthcare, and giving patients greater choice.
“Independent providers are committed to playing their full part in the NHS to ensure patients are diagnosed and treated as quickly as possible and that the health service is truly fit for the 21st century.
“This includes delivering innovative, efficient services from primary to hospital care as well as standing ready to provide the long-term investment the NHS needs to build a new generation of healthcare facilities and expand the range of healthcare choices available to local communities.”
NHS in crisis
Other health sector professionals have welcomed Lord Darzi’s findings for detailing the true scale of the crisis facing the NHS.
Dr Jennifer Dixon, CEO of the Health Foundation, said the report laid bare the scale of the NHS crisis inherited by the new government.
“How the health service got here is no secret,” Dixon said.
“A decade of under-investment and policy failure prior to Covid-19 weakened the NHS and worsened the impact of the pandemic on patients and staff.
“The results are plain to see in long waiting times, missed targets for patient care, and low public satisfaction in the NHS.
“The main focus of Darzi’s report is on the NHS, but it also – rightly – points to the fact that the nation’s health is fraying.
“Improvements in life expectancy have stalled, more people are living with preventable health conditions and deep inequalities in the nation’s health are widening.
“Cuts in local public health budgets, political neglect of social care, and weak investment in wider public services that shape our health have made things worse.
“The question now is what the government does in response.
“Darzi’s diagnosis points to some obvious priorities for NHS reform, including shifting the balance of resources towards primary care and community-based services, modernising NHS buildings and equipment, and harnessing the benefits of new technology to improve care for patients.
“The NHS is weakened but not broken – and staff can recover services if they are given the resources to make it happen.
“But ministers must go further and use their health ‘mission’ to put health at the heart of government and take coordinated action across Whitehall on the building blocks of health – like income, employment, and housing.
“Getting the health service back on its feet will require sustained investment.
“Darzi points to the challenges caused by underinvestment, and our analysis projects a potential £38bn shortfall in the funding needed to improve the NHS by the end of the parliament.
“The new government must be honest about the scale of investment needed and the tricky trade-offs this would mean for other areas of public spending and levels of taxation.”
Authoritative and sobering
Sarah Woolnough, CEO of The King’s Fund, said the report was an “authoritative and sobering” articulation of what patients have been saying for some time – that services are stretched to breaking point and people are losing faith that support will be there when they need it.
“The report is more than a gloomy assessment of how long it will take to recover services, it is a mandate for government to take bold, decisive action,” Woolnough said.
“The biggest improvements to health and care in our country will come from prioritising services outside of hospital.
“That means greater investment in the primary and community services that support people before they end up needing hospital treatment.
“It means political focus on public health strategies that keep people healthy and preventing illness in the first place. And it means finally getting to grips with the much-needed reform of adult social care.
“Lord Darzi’s report also underscores the need to move beyond past lazy criticism of the value of NHS managers and instead recognise that implementing major improvement of the health service requires investment in high quality leaders.
“Ministers now face tough trade-offs between tackling immediate NHS pressures, or prioritising reform of the root causes of the crisis.
“Today’s report makes clear that incremental improvement will not do – radical change is needed.
“The task is not simply to prop the NHS back up, it is to create a new approach to health and care in this country.”
Child health services in crisis
Dr Ronny Cheung, officer for health services at Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said the findings of the Darzi Review confirm the concerns that members have been raising for years – that child health services are in crisis.
“Despite the best efforts of the child health workforce, chronic underinvestment and a lack of focus on children in health policy has resulted in children in the UK having some of the worst health outcomes in Europe,” Cheung said.
“Our children are sicker than before, with rising rates of obesity, asthma, diabetes, worsening mental health and poor oral health.
“Children are waiting longer than adults to access healthcare, paediatric services have not recovered at the same rate as adult health services, and there is a growing gap between demand and capacity.
“Without urgent action, we will have a two-tier health system, where adult services continue to improve but children’s services are left behind.
“We recently published a series of practical solutions to this ongoing crisis in child health.
“Our report, Transforming child health services in England: a blueprint provides a pathway to recovery, and we stand ready to work with government ministers as they take forward plans for the NHS alongside action on the social determinants of health such as child poverty.
“We once again remind our government that investing in, and reforming paediatric services and workforce is fundamental to the future health and economic wellbeing of our country.”
Recognising the scale of the problem
Dean Rogers, director of industrial strategy for the Society of Radiographers, said the organisation welcomed the recognition of the scale of the problems its members have been facing, enduring and discussing – including during its industrial action last year.
“Lord Darzi’s findings won’t come as much of a shock to anyone who has been listening to this discussion – and it certainly won’t be a surprise to anyone who works in the NHS,” Rogers said.
“However, the three pillars outlined by the prime minister are only aspirations at this stage. We need a plan showing us how to get there.
“We want to ensure that the voice of radiographers is heard during the process of developing that plan.
“We want to see lasting, sustainable change, and an end to short-term political meddling in the NHS.
“Everyone who cares about the NHS will need to be actively engaged in saving it.
“We can direct politicians to our islands of excellence and help them understand why these exist in some places and not others. This has to be a positive partnership effort.
“We also need to be honest and brave. No sacred cows should remain unchallenged.
“This will be uncomfortable. We can only achieve it by making sure that this rebuilding project remains firmly anchored in the NHS’s founding principles. These remain secure, and should be what we build out from and measure ourselves against.
“There is nothing wrong with the NHS’s founding values – and we know that it is the dedication and professionalism of its staff that have kept the NHS alive, and will continue to be crucial in the future.”