Blair defends NHS reforms

Prime Minister Tony Blair has defended planned reforms of the NHS today, seeing that they will bring improvements as the service becomes "patient-centred".

However, he admitted that proper financial disciplines and accountability were likely to present a "real challenge" for some NHS Trusts.

The Prime Minister and Health Secretary Patricia held a meeting with senior managers from primary care trusts and health authorities from around England on Wednesday.

There have been over 6,000 job cuts across the NHS in the past few weeks. According to reports, hospitals and health trusts have debts of around £623 million.

A report by think-tank Reform also suggested that there would be a further 100,000 job cuts.

Speaking at today's meeting, Mr Blair said: "The hard thing is that when change is happening there's enormous resistance but sometimes what's important is to hold your own and have confidence that the change will deliver a better service.

"In many circumstances, what is being exposed are problems that have built up over a considerable period of time and frankly it is time we dealt with them."

Mr Blair added that the government had also overseen many improvements in the health service, including falling waiting lists and times. But he said: "Despite all of that there is a real challenge for certain trusts, and for the system as a whole, as we introduce what is effectively a re-engineering of the whole system of the NHS in order to put the patient at the centre of it, and to introduce proper financial disciplines and accountability."

Ms Hewitt also announced plans to reduce the number of Strategic Health Authorities from 28 to 10 today. The Health Secretary said that the changes will ensure that the NHS is "structurally able" to deliver the next stage of health reforms. She said: "These improvements to the local NHS will mean more money for frontline services and better care for patients.

However the Conservatives have condemned Tony Blair's management of the NHS, calling it "disastrous".

Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said: "This morning's emergency summit is presented by the government as an opportunity to tell hospitals to improve their performance. In reality, it needs to be hospitals telling the government how to radically improve their management.

"The government has failed to implement a credible payment-by-results system; the IT programme is disastrously late; the government hopelessly miscalculated the cost of staff contracts; the NHS tariff has underlying errors and the government are manipulating the tariff when they should be making the tariff independently set.

"Instead of crude schemes by primary care trusts to stop patients reaching hospitals, they should give GPs real budgets and an ability to manage patients in communities or hospitals, according to the patients' needs.

"Instead of trying to take the splinter out of the eye of hospital managers, the government should take the plank out of their own eye by recognising their disastrous management of the NHS."

Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Vince Cable said: "Tackling the financial predicament that is damaging the NHS will take more than empty words. Trusts need time and long-term planning to overcome this current cash crisis.

"The NHS has invested heavily to gain the highly skilled staff it needs. These reforms could lead to many thousands of them being made redundant.

"Rushing through costly reforms and reorganisations will do nothing to help PCTs deliver a world class health service which gives value for money."

(KMcA)