This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/nov/30/nhs-bosses-waiting-time-targets-abandoned-next-year
The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 5 | Version 6 |
|---|---|
| Jeremy Hunt orders NHS England bosses to stick to waiting time limits | Jeremy Hunt orders NHS England bosses to stick to waiting time limits |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| Jeremy Hunt has ordered NHS England to stick to waiting time limits, putting him at loggerheads with its leaders who said hours earlier that insufficient funding from last week’s budget made this impossible. | Jeremy Hunt has ordered NHS England to stick to waiting time limits, putting him at loggerheads with its leaders who said hours earlier that insufficient funding from last week’s budget made this impossible. |
| NHS England told ministers on Thursday it would have to tear up guarantees on waiting times and deny patients new drugs next year because of the lack of money. But the health secretary rejected the proposals and signalled the start of months of difficult negotiations over what care the NHS can and cannot afford to provide in 2018-19. | NHS England told ministers on Thursday it would have to tear up guarantees on waiting times and deny patients new drugs next year because of the lack of money. But the health secretary rejected the proposals and signalled the start of months of difficult negotiations over what care the NHS can and cannot afford to provide in 2018-19. |
| “I would say very simply that the government is absolutely committed to NHS constitutional standards, that is why we found a significant increase for the NHS in the budget. Our absolute determination is to move back to hitting those standards,” Hunt told an audience of NHS chiefs hours after the plans emerged. | “I would say very simply that the government is absolutely committed to NHS constitutional standards, that is why we found a significant increase for the NHS in the budget. Our absolute determination is to move back to hitting those standards,” Hunt told an audience of NHS chiefs hours after the plans emerged. |
| In an unprecedented move reflecting a widening gulf with the government, NHS England used its board meeting to warn that it had to make “difficult choices” next year that would involve limiting what it could provide for patients. | In an unprecedented move reflecting a widening gulf with the government, NHS England used its board meeting to warn that it had to make “difficult choices” next year that would involve limiting what it could provide for patients. |
| It blamed the chancellor, Philip Hammond, for creating what the Patients Association said was an “extraordinary” situation by giving it only £1.6bn extra funding for 2018-19 in his budget last week – less than half of the £4bn the NHS boss, Simon Stevens, had called for. | It blamed the chancellor, Philip Hammond, for creating what the Patients Association said was an “extraordinary” situation by giving it only £1.6bn extra funding for 2018-19 in his budget last week – less than half of the £4bn the NHS boss, Simon Stevens, had called for. |
| In a paper given to its board, NHS England said: “NHS constitution waiting times standards, in the round, will not be fully funded and met next year.” Hammond made clear last week that the £1.6bn was to be used to improve waiting times, which have been increasingly breached since 2014. | In a paper given to its board, NHS England said: “NHS constitution waiting times standards, in the round, will not be fully funded and met next year.” Hammond made clear last week that the £1.6bn was to be used to improve waiting times, which have been increasingly breached since 2014. |
| NHS England ratified plans to stop prescribing cough mixture, cold treatments, eye drops and laxatives, which it wants patients to buy over the counter instead, as well as a range of “low-value treatments”, including fish oil, herbal remedies and homeopathy, as part of a plan to save up to £190m from its £9.2bn bill for prescribed medications. | NHS England ratified plans to stop prescribing cough mixture, cold treatments, eye drops and laxatives, which it wants patients to buy over the counter instead, as well as a range of “low-value treatments”, including fish oil, herbal remedies and homeopathy, as part of a plan to save up to £190m from its £9.2bn bill for prescribed medications. |
| It also said it may refuse to act on new guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) if it believed it did not have the money or staff to implement them. That could lead to England’s 209 NHS clinical commissioning groups refusing to pay for new drugs that Nice has deemed value for money for the NHS or declining to change practice as a result of guidelines that Nice issues to promote better care. | It also said it may refuse to act on new guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) if it believed it did not have the money or staff to implement them. That could lead to England’s 209 NHS clinical commissioning groups refusing to pay for new drugs that Nice has deemed value for money for the NHS or declining to change practice as a result of guidelines that Nice issues to promote better care. |
| NHS England dismissed the idea that the service could be expected to provide ever more care at a time when its annual budget increases of 1% to 2% were far smaller than rises in patient demand, running at up to 7% a year. | NHS England dismissed the idea that the service could be expected to provide ever more care at a time when its annual budget increases of 1% to 2% were far smaller than rises in patient demand, running at up to 7% a year. |
| In its board paper on what it could afford to do next year, it promised “more scrutiny of unfunded new expectations that are loaded on to the NHS. For example, new advisory Nice guidelines can only expect to be implemented locally across the NHS if in future they are accompanied by a clear and agreed affordability and workforce assessment at the time they are drawn up.” | In its board paper on what it could afford to do next year, it promised “more scrutiny of unfunded new expectations that are loaded on to the NHS. For example, new advisory Nice guidelines can only expect to be implemented locally across the NHS if in future they are accompanied by a clear and agreed affordability and workforce assessment at the time they are drawn up.” |
| Patient groups and medical organisations reacted with alarm to NHS England’s twin threats. Rachel Power, the chief executive of the Patients Association, praised it for facing up to what she said were the consequences of government underfunding of the NHS. | Patient groups and medical organisations reacted with alarm to NHS England’s twin threats. Rachel Power, the chief executive of the Patients Association, praised it for facing up to what she said were the consequences of government underfunding of the NHS. |
| She said: “It made clear how patients will lose out as a result of political decisions about the funding of health and social care. There will be longer waits for elective surgery, and therefore more pain and worse outcomes for many. NHS England has also said it is unable to implement best practice as advised by Nice on a routine basis – an extraordinary state of affairs. We have now reached a point where the NHS constitution will be routinely breached and NHS services are being withdrawn.” | She said: “It made clear how patients will lose out as a result of political decisions about the funding of health and social care. There will be longer waits for elective surgery, and therefore more pain and worse outcomes for many. NHS England has also said it is unable to implement best practice as advised by Nice on a routine basis – an extraordinary state of affairs. We have now reached a point where the NHS constitution will be routinely breached and NHS services are being withdrawn.” |
| Dr Chaand Nagpaul, the chair of the British Medical Association, said it was “deeply worrying that the body with responsibility for running the NHS is warning of the service’s inability to meet national standards of care. Unfortunately, it is patients who are unfairly suffering the consequences of a clearly underfunded service. Doctors … can’t continuously plug gaps by penny pinching and poaching from elsewhere in an overstretched service.” | Dr Chaand Nagpaul, the chair of the British Medical Association, said it was “deeply worrying that the body with responsibility for running the NHS is warning of the service’s inability to meet national standards of care. Unfortunately, it is patients who are unfairly suffering the consequences of a clearly underfunded service. Doctors … can’t continuously plug gaps by penny pinching and poaching from elsewhere in an overstretched service.” |
| NHS England urged ministers to bring “realism” about what it sees as the NHS’s shrinking role as a result of its funding settlement to discussions that will take place between now and the spring over the service’s mandate for 2018-19 – its annual set of instructions from government. “Some difficult judgments about priorities” were unavoidable, Stevens and other chiefs stressed. | NHS England urged ministers to bring “realism” about what it sees as the NHS’s shrinking role as a result of its funding settlement to discussions that will take place between now and the spring over the service’s mandate for 2018-19 – its annual set of instructions from government. “Some difficult judgments about priorities” were unavoidable, Stevens and other chiefs stressed. |
| The Royal College of Surgeons agreed with NHS England’s analysis that the extra £1.6bn Hammond gave the NHS last week was insufficient. It said the huge advance in patients’ rights represented by maximum waiting times could be lost if they were no longer important. | The Royal College of Surgeons agreed with NHS England’s analysis that the extra £1.6bn Hammond gave the NHS last week was insufficient. It said the huge advance in patients’ rights represented by maximum waiting times could be lost if they were no longer important. |
| Its president, Prof Derek Alderson, said: “Rationing and delaying surgical treatment are false economies. For example, current commissioning group policies designed to delay surgical access for obese patients and smokers only defers treatment and potentially adds costs through increased use of painkillers, physiotherapy and welfare support for out-of-work patients.” | Its president, Prof Derek Alderson, said: “Rationing and delaying surgical treatment are false economies. For example, current commissioning group policies designed to delay surgical access for obese patients and smokers only defers treatment and potentially adds costs through increased use of painkillers, physiotherapy and welfare support for out-of-work patients.” |
| Stevens backtracked on the possible scrapping of plans to improve cancer and mental health care as part of the cost-cutting drive, which he had mooted earlier in the month. Both areas, and also primary care – especially GP services – would now be key priorities in 2018-19, he said. | Stevens backtracked on the possible scrapping of plans to improve cancer and mental health care as part of the cost-cutting drive, which he had mooted earlier in the month. Both areas, and also primary care – especially GP services – would now be key priorities in 2018-19, he said. |
| NHS England in effect accused Hammond of being ready to break a key pledge in this year’s Conservative general election manifesto, which promised to increase health spending per head of population every year until 2022. While the extra money in the budget meant that per capita funding would rise by 0.9% next year, it would then fall by 0.4% in 2019-20, it claimed. | NHS England in effect accused Hammond of being ready to break a key pledge in this year’s Conservative general election manifesto, which promised to increase health spending per head of population every year until 2022. While the extra money in the budget meant that per capita funding would rise by 0.9% next year, it would then fall by 0.4% in 2019-20, it claimed. |
| NHS | NHS |
| Health policy | Health policy |
| Health | Health |
| Public services policy | Public services policy |
| Jeremy Hunt | Jeremy Hunt |
| news | news |
| Share on Facebook | Share on Facebook |
| Share on Twitter | Share on Twitter |
| Share via Email | Share via Email |
| Share on LinkedIn | Share on LinkedIn |
| Share on Pinterest | Share on Pinterest |
| Share on Google+ | Share on Google+ |
| Share on WhatsApp | Share on WhatsApp |
| Share on Messenger | Share on Messenger |
| Reuse this content | Reuse this content |