MPs recently asked the senior leadership of NHS England whether the NHS is well placed to implement the Government’s three healthcare shifts, in an evidence session to the Health and Social Care Committee. The three shifts include: moving care from hospitals to the community, embracing digital transformation, and shifting from treatment to prevention. Louise Frampton reports.
An evidence session to MPs — featuring top NHS England leadership — recently coincided with the publication of a damning report by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), accusing NHS senior leadership of 'complacency'. The panel were grilled on whether the NHS is "well placed to deliver the government's three healthcare shifts", and on the findings of PAC, which suggested that there is a "lack of fresh thinking and decisive action" within NHS England and DHSC.
Amanda Pritchard, Chief Executive Officer, NHS England, opened the session by stating that "NHS England is not complacent about productivity, and it is completely wrong to suggest otherwise." She criticised the PAC report for its "factual inaccuracies", to which the Chair of Health and Social Care Committee, Layla Moran MP, sharply responded that this was a "bold claim".
Addressing some of the points raised in the PAC report, which she felt were contentious, Amanda Pritchard stated that NHS productivity is improving, but added that NHS England has been open and transparent about the challenges and its plans to address it. She announced planning guidance was being published imminently (see the panel at the end of this article).
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