NHS reforms : the first six months / foreword by Duncan Nichol.

  • NHS Management Executive.
Date:
[1992]
Catalogue details

Licence: Open Government Licence

Credit: NHS reforms : the first six months / foreword by Duncan Nichol. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Foreword This report provides an assessment of the performance of the NHS in the half-year between April and September 1991. This has been a period of immense change and new challenges for the health service. The NHS reforms have come into effect and changed the way the entire NHS now operates. I hope that this report will help to keep you fully informed of the progress that has been made across the service. Changes in the way the NHS is organised have helped to re-focus our activities. They are leading to improvements in the quality of care, greater responsiveness to individuals and even better value for money from the growing NHS budget. I particularly welcome the progress made in the following areas: e figures for the first six months of 1991/2 indicate that an extra 250,000 patients will be treated this year (up 3.7 per cent on last year). This includes an increase of 170,000 in the number of day cases (up over 13 per cent); e the number of patients waiting over two years for treatment has fallen by 8,000 in the first six months of the year (down 16 per cent); e primary care services are continuing to improve, for example the latest available figures show record levels of childhood immunisation coverage with around 90 per cent of children immunised against diphtheria, tetanus and polio, whooping cough and measles; e within this overall level of performance, there has been a vast range of local initiatives to improve the care provided to patients which demonstrate the real impact of the reforms on individuals. I would like to thank all NHS staff for their contribution to such an encouraging start for the reformed NHS. However, it is only a start and much more remains to be done. Despite substantial reductions, people are still asked to wait too long for treatment; we need to improve even further the quality of services available; the development of community and primary care services needs to continue, and we cannot yet claim that we make the most effective use possible of the vast resources available to us. All these challenges will be resolved not just by the efforts of those who work within the NHS, but also by listening and responding to those we serve. The report cannot acknowledge all the many examples of good practice and progress. However, I hope it will act as a stimulus to further change and improvement, and to the continued search for excellence in delivering health care. We all need to build on what has been achieved so far to ensure that standards throughout the NHS continue to improve. DUNCAN NICHOL Chief Executive