GP leaders have called on NHS England to create a new strategy which will “empower patients” and reinstate control over finances.
Though Mike Farrar, NHS Confederation chief executive, said the NHS has a “bright sustainable future”, it must make changes in order to move forward.
Working with healthcare regulators Monitor and the Care Quality Commission, Farrar called for a strategy which is “right for the next decade”.
Speaking at the NHS Confederation Annual Conference, he said: “We need a strategy which is far-reaching, and we need it to be aligned so that all parts of the system are following the same strategy.”
Splitting his ideal strategy into parts, Farrar said culture, finance and leadership needed to be worked on throughout the healthcare landscape.
He said: “Our processes, our financial flow and our incentives need to be put together to ensure they’re supporting the other strategies.”
Farrar said market-based approaches need to be looked at in further detail, to work out whether they will support the system or “hinder them”.
A new culture of “learning” was called for, which would be about “about openness, transparency” and “empowering the staff and patients”.
But in order to tie them together, the NHS must have strong leadership.
“We need to have a new style of leadership which reflects the way in which the system operates, that’s built into the NHS but is clever enough to work collaboratively with the national bodies to create the right framework for us to do the right thing locally.”
For up-to-the-minute information on the NHS Confederation Conference, visit the live blog on Management in Practice.
