I am in two minds about Andrew Lansley’s proposed reforms of the National Health
Service, the cornerstone of which is the transfer of commissioning responsibility from Primary Care Trusts to GP-consortia. On the one hand, the NHS desperately needs radical reform. On the other
hand, I’m not sure these are the right reforms, and I’m not sure they are sufficiently radical to deliver a real difference to patients.
Let’s start with why the NHS needs reform. Firstly, it is eye-wateringly expensive at 8.1 percent of 2010 GDP, or £120bn a year. Costs have skyrocketed since 1999, doubling in real terms in the 10 years to 2009. Over that same period, productivity fell. We are spending more and more, and getting less for our money.
The latest research from the Adam Smith Institute, which analyzes World Health Organization data, suggests that the NHS fails to distinguish itself on either health outcomes or value for money – when ranked against similar countries, the UK is in the lower half of both league tables.
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