Date Published: 2 September 2006

NHS Confederation responds to IPPR survey on public expectations

Commenting on the IPPR survey on public expectations of the NHS, Jo Webber, Deputy Policy Director at the NHS Confederation which respresents over 90% of NHS organisations, said:

“We welcome the release of these survey results by the IPPR as part of the on-going debate about the realities of health spending decisions across the country. The NHS Confederation has said for a long time that politicians, the public and the NHS urgently need to engage in an honest discussion about the reality of so-called ?post-code prescribing' and the difficult moral and ethical spending decisions that primary care trusts oversee.

_ PCTs have a limited pot of tax-payers' money to provide healthcare for their community. They need to balance spending money on expensive drugs like Herceptin and treatments such as IVF, against others that might not get as much media attention but are still vitally important, like substance misuse or mental health services.

_ Prioritising spending decisions is difficult in a cash-limited environment and this is compounded by pressures of rising expectations and an ageing population. PCTs need to work with the public, doctors and nurses and local government to ensure that there is true ownership of the decisions. They must also make sure the range of services they provide are not only effective, but also efficient because every penny wasted is a penny that cannot be spent meeting patients' needs.?

This item is from the (UK) NHS Confederation:
The NHS Confederation is the independent membership body for the full range of organisations that make up the modern NHS.
The "NHS" is the "National Health Service" funded by the UK Government.

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