06 February 2004
Accident and emergency departments and ambulance and mental health trusts could receive up to £500,000 a year if they meet government targets for providing faster emergency care, Health Secretary John Reid said this week.
Casualty departments will be able to earn up to £500,000 for their trust by ensuring more than 90% of patients are seen, treated, discharged or admitted within four hours of arrival.
Ambulance trusts must attend 75% of life-threatening cases within eight minutes to be awarded up to £300,000, while mental health trusts can gain up to £200,000 by improving their 24/7 crisis care.
Figures released last summer showed 85% of England's 205 A&E departments saw 90% of patients within four hours. However, the British Medical Association claimed trusts were able to achieve this only by pouring extra resources into casualty in the week when the figures were recorded.
In 2002/03 only 18 of England's 32 ambulance trusts achieved the 75% target.
Reid said patients were demanding better emergency care. 'That's why this government set such challenging targets for emergency services, and why we will give frontline NHS staff the support they need to reach those targets.
'Now trusts that deliver real, significant and sustained improvements will get financial rewards that match their achievements and help them to carry on improving their services and facilities,' he added.
Reid also launched a debate on how the nation can best tackle issues such as obesity, smoking and sexually transmitted diseases. Public health issues, particularly encouraging individuals to prevent illness by adopting healthier lifestyles, is seen by Labour as a priority for a third term in office.
'We need to find the right balance, rejecting both the nanny state and the Pontius Pilate state that washes its hands of its citizens' health,' Reid told trust chief executives at a meeting in London.
'We need to help everyone tackle these challenges to ensure we all get the long healthy lives we deserve. Successful action now will also ensure the NHS has the capacity to treat the illnesses that cannot be prevented.
'A healthier population could save as much as £30bn per annum in NHS spending in 20 years time.'
PFfeb2004
