Posted by lloydcardiol on Monday, 12 February 2007 00:54:38

Sounds great but not nearly radical enough. Also mid term reviews could have been written by the present incumbents. Health needs to be the ‘Bank of England’ moment for any future government, something so radical that it defines the transition. Bringing back fund holding is just shifting the money around, again!
There are only 2 principles that matter
1) Free at the point of use
2) Universal coverage
The DOH need perform little more than a licensing role as it will always be unfit to plan the delivery side of the service. But licensing is very powerful.
Give the hospitals (through shares (given not bought)) to the staff and the local community
License units only if they provide a full range of services to prevent medical cherry picking (which they may subcontract if required.) Kite mark for quality. Bad hospitals close. Good hospitals get better and bigger. Hospitals can provide GP services if the numbers add up. Gps can similarly provide hospital services. Simple strategic planning i.e. we need at least 1 A and E in this area (could be more but this is the bottom line).
Maintain tariffs and quality (not political) targets and then let us all get on with it
Job done!