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PM outlines NHS reforms
Speaking to health professional at King's College, London, the PM said that the NHS had to face three new challenges in the 21st century - embracing technological change, meeting rising expectations of healthcare and adapting to a shift in priorities from tackling infectious disease to managing long-term conditions and "lifestyle diseases".
The PM said:
"These challenges themselves mean that the NHS - with its central commitment to healthcare free for all at the point of need - is today even more relevant, more essential, than ever.
"Our goal: deeper and wider reform - building on the values, principles and idealism of the NHS to create for the next decade an NHS that is: here for all of us but personal to each of us; focused on prevention as much as cure; and strong and confident enough to put real control into the hands of individuals and
their clinicians."
Mr Brown listed a number of measures aimed at improving people's health prospects, including new screening processes for a range of conditions such as heart disease, colon cancer, breast cancer, strokes and kidney disease. Such conditions affect the lives of more than six million people, cause 200,000 deaths each year and account for a fifth of all hospital admissions, he said.
The NHS will also focus on preventative care in relation to so-called "lifestyle" diseases such as obesity and better management of long-term conditions such as asthma and diabetes. With 60 percent of the population projected to be clinically obese by 2050, the PM stressed new measures such as an increase in activity based prescriptions and the provision of at least five hours of sport a week for schoolchildren.
As part of the reform programme, the Prime Minister said there would be a new NHS constitution setting out the level of service that patients can expect as well as their own responsibilities for their treatment, such as keeping appointments with doctors and hospitals.
In return patients will be granted greater choice around their treatments, such as improved access to doctors outside of normal hours and the ability to manage personal treatment in the home.
