NHS

Directions to NHS bodies concerning the cost of telephone calls 2009 (22nd December 2009)
These Directions came into force on 21st December 2009.
Directions

The NHS operating framework for England for 2010/11 (16th December 2009)
The operating framework for the NHS for 2010/11 sets out the priorities for the NHS for the year ahead to enable them to begin their planning.

For the third year in a row, the national priorities in the operating framework remain the same, providing important stability. The five priorities continue to be:

• improving cleanliness and reducing healthcare associated infections;
• improving access through achievement of the 18-week referral to treatment pledge and improving access (including at evenings and weekends) to GP services;
• keeping adults and children well, improving their health and reducing health inequalities;
• improving patient experience, staff satisfaction, and engagement; and
• preparing to respond in a state of emergency such as an outbreak of pandemic flu, learning from our experience of swine flu.

Framework

NHS 2010-2015: from good to great. Preventative, people-centred, productive (10th December 2009)
Secretary of State Andy Burnham introduces a five-year plan to reshape the NHS to meet the challenge of delivering high quality health care in a tough financial environment. The report describes practical measures to meet the demands of an aging population and the increased prevalence of lifestyle diseases. The vision is for an NHS that is organised around patients whether at home, in a community setting or in hospital. There will be a renewed focus on prevention with the ambition of delivering cost-effective high quality care across the service.
Command Paper

The Human Factor (November 2009)
The National Health Service needs to save £15 billion to £20 billion over the next few years.

This paper argues that these savings could be achieved through radical patient-centred service redesign and more effective approaches to public behaviour change. However, these approaches are difficult to develop within the existing health service.
Paper

Conservative Draft Manifesto 2010. Chapter One: Our reform plan for the NHS (4th January 2009)
The Conservative party have set out their plans for healthcare if they win the election. Some of the main points are:

• NHS providers to become Foundation Trusts
• Patients to be in charge of own health records with ability to choose which providers they share them with
• GPs' to hold patients' budgets and commission are on their behalf
• Link GPs' pay to quality of results they deliver
• Create an independent NHS board to allocate resources to different parts of the country
• Turn the Department of Health into a Department of Public Health
• Provide separate public health funding to local authorities

Document