He outlined its purposes and principles, in particular his wish to empower the service, professionals and the front line.
Free to innovate
He was clear that he wants the NHS to be free to innovate and promised to be clear about what the service will be asked to do rather than how. He said: "I want to provide freedom, responsibility and accountability so that clinicians don’t have to wait for permission to move from the thing that is targeted to something better." And he said the white paper will show where the new accountability will lie, adding: "Where the Secretary of State is not responsible, I will set out who is."
NHS can start now
We expect NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson to go further today on the practical steps, but Mr Lansley said the service can start making progress. "PCTs can start accelerating their efforts with practice-based commissioning consortia," he said. "Trusts that aren’t yet foundation trusts (FTs) must now be pushing themselves to achieve FT status … and everyone can ready themselves for these changes, focusing more on outcomes, safety and shared decision-making with patients."
Efficiency savings
He told delegates that making the necessary £20billion efficiency saving is about doing more for less. While funding for the NHS will continue to rise in real terms, he said we must apply the same financial discipline as other public services. He told delegates: "’Protection’ for the NHS is not protection from the need for efficiency. It is protection for patients."
Questions
Delegates asked a number of questions, in particular about how the Treasury would feel about "giving GPs all that money", and about engaging with local authorities on social care and the transition to the new system.
Leaving the hall, delegates said there remained a number of unanswered questions and that they are keen to have clarity on the future role of PCTs.
NHS Confederation reaction
Acting chief executive Nigel Edwards said: "There were some tough messages about the financial challenges and future shape of the service but the Secretary of State made it clear he feels they can be met locally by NHS leaders.
"What is clear is that there is an ambitious and detailed vision for the NHS which represents a genuine attempt to place more power in the hands of patients and to shift the decision-making emphasis away from Whitehall towards local GPs and leaders.
"As the Secretary of State acknowledged, there will be considerable work in making this vision a reality and some significant challenges about managing the most radical change in the way the NHS works in the last 20 years."
Conference media
You can keep up with the latest news and watch videos of the plenary speeches on the conference website.
Follow the conference on Twitter and use the #confed2010 hashtag to tweet your views. Delegates are also invited to join our LinkedIn group.