Saving the NHS

'Outgoing NHS England Chief Executive David Nicholson  launched a sustained attack of the political debate around the health service in his farewell speech to the NHS Confederation.

'Sir David argued for the need to get away from the "tyranny of the electoral cycle" and said
that the government 'wasted' two years restructuring the NHS  instead of addressing the need to  transform services.

'Worse, during the 2010 election campaign, politicians "went around the country making promises
of no change".  David Nicholson made explicit reference to moratoriums on hospital reconfigurations, which had been promised by former health secretary Andrew Lansley before he took office.

'"We said at the time it was not the right thing to do - so what happened when we got a new government in, we wasted those two years where can really make change happen."

'David Nicholson argued that the reason that NHS England was set up was to look ahead and think strategically about the future of the NHS.  This strategy would get the NHS "out of the tyranny of that electoral cycle, to think about the NHS over the medium to long term".'

[Health Service Journal 14 June 2013 Page 15]

Thanks to David Fish for submitting this item.