Priorities for the NHS
Posted by Philip Dunne, MP for Ludlow, at 09:10, Wed 20 August 2008:
There is good news locally for our community hospitals. Following Bridgnorth's major improvement last year, Shropshire PCT is soon to publish plans for a complete £1m refurbishment of Bishop's Castle community hospital and consultation is under way for a brand new community hospital for Ludlow.
Local residents are urged to take part to help decide what extra services should be available.
At the heart of the ethos of the NHS is universal, free at source provision of healthcare. But research published last week reveals that people over 50, particularly the old and frail, are not receiving even the basic standards of healthcare.
Only 60% of the care recommended for people aged 50 and over is actually received in England and the quality of treatment received for conditions common among this age group, such as osteoarthritis and osteoporosis, is poor.
This is despite the vast sums spent on the NHS since 1997 and the 64 targets imposed on the NHS when Gordon Brown was Chancellor and a further 37 in 2007. A survey by the Government's own health watchdog astonishingly showed that 54% of NHS staff did not think that care of patients was their Trust's top priority.
A Conservative government would phase out Labour's endless expensive targets. We believe that the best way to enhance the power of patients is through choice. We will allow patients to choose, in consultation with their GP, where they get their secondary care. And we will ensure that money follows the patient so that hospitals and clinics and other care providers are paid according to the results they deliver for that patient.
This should ensure that in rural areas our community hospitals will thrive as the range of services they offer expands to serve local priorities. In Shropshire this will include services for the elderly.
Yours
Philip
Philip Dunne MP House of Commons London SW1A 0AA
and at
Ludlow Constituency office: 54 Broad Street, Ludlow Shropshire SY8 1GP
Tel: 01584 872 187
Email: philipdunne@ludlowconservatives.com Website: www.philipdunne.com
P.S. I am very grateful to all those who take the trouble to comment on my weekly email. I hope you will understand that I may not be able to respond individually given the volume of comments received each week.
Copyright © 2008 Philip Dunne MP
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Posted by Matthew Genner, 13:38, Wed 20 August 2008: (Is this post abusive?) #
Are your policies not the same as those outlined in the Darzi review carried out by the health minister?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7480910.stm
Health minister Lord Darzi has set out his plans for the next 10 years of the NHS in England. Here are the main points of his review.
Patients' views on the quality of care they receive will affect funding for hospitals and GPs Information on the quality of an NHS body's service will be published on the web and on clinical "dashboards" in hospitals and GP surgeries.
All providers of NHS care will have to publish quality accounts each year All patients with long-term conditions will have personal care plans.
Five thousand of those with long-term conditions will pilot personal care budgets An NHS draft constitution, out for consultation, sets out rights and responsibilities of NHS patients, staff and providers.
One right will be to access to any appropriate drugs approved by the National Institute for health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) NICE's appraisals of new drugs and treatments will also be speeded up so they take a maximum of six months rather than two years.
Other rights include to seek treatment in the rest of Europe if faced with an "undue delay" in England.
Lord Darzi says patients should have the right to choose which GP practice they go to, and to express a preference for a certain doctor.