In what can only be described as an illuminating and stimulating discussion, the Whitehouse Consultancy hosted a webinar discussing the future direction of travel for the NHS and social care in England.
Joining Whitehouse was Robert Ede, Head of Health and Social Care, Policy Exchange; David Hare, Chief Executive, Independent Healthcare Providers Network; and Sharon Brennan, Journalist leading on NHS reform at the Health Service Journal. The timely event was attended by over 150 participants, including one former health secretary, two former health ministers, and members of both Houses.
Are patients at the heart of the reforms?
The webinar got to the heart of the issue and asked the critical question: “What are the reforms that are needed to put patients first and does this White Paper deliver them?”. With a stark warning, Robert Ede kicked off the debate saying that the government’s reforms to Integrated Care Systems (ICS) risk diluting the patient voice. Robert said, “it is possible for these set of reforms to benefit one set of patients but not another”.
David Hare said, “the two big topics for political and public debate around the NHS will be access and workforce, in which, the White Paper is largely silent”.
Flaws emerging
Sharon Brennan offered her insight and highlighted that the White Paper initially sounded good, but now the holes are evident and that much more work is needed on accountability and quality. Brennan said, “this NHS White Paper leaves questions to be answered especially considering the inequalities that have come to the fore during Covid-19”.
A link to a full recording of the webinar is available below:
The Whitehouse team are experts in providing public affairs advice and political analysis to a wide range of clients, not only in the United Kingdom, but also across the member states of the European Union and beyond. For more information, please contact our Chair, Chris Whitehouse, at chris.whitehouse@whitehousecomms.com.
