NHS Confederation reacts to government's response to Hewitt Review
Reacting to the government’s response to the Hewitt Review, Matthew Taylor chief executive of the NHS Confederation said:
“The government’s swift response to the Hewitt Review and their support for ICSs is welcome.
“The agreement that we must reduce the number of overarching national targets imposed on ICSs will be music to the ears of ICS leaders, empowering them to focus on the priorities of their localities. Let us enact this promptly.
“NHS leaders have been clear that the move to a prevention focus will be imperative to reducing overall demand on the service, and keeping people well for longer. While government have recognized this point, we encourage the government to double down on work on prevention.
“That the government has accepted the need for a capital review is promising, but we await further detail on how it will reduce the red tape NHS leaders say they face when trying to access capital funding. While work to address the most in need hospitals is showing signs of progress, we will need a long term solution to not only mend and maintain estates, but to support digital upgrades, and make progress towards our net zero commitments.
“Lastly, we have been clear that the NHS is not efficient without an effective social care system. We are therefore disappointed that the urgency of addressing the issues in social care appear not to have been fully recognised by government as they fail to commit to a national social care plan. We will continue to push for this.”
About us
We are the membership organisation that brings together, supports and speaks for the whole healthcare system in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The members we represent employ 1.5 million staff, care for more than 1 million patients a day and control £150 billion of public expenditure. We promote collaboration and partnership working as the key to improving population health, delivering high-quality care and reducing health inequalities.
