By Richard Johnstone | 15 September 2014
The quality of NHS care is beginning to decline across a number of areas as a result of the spending squeeze in the health service, a healthcare charity has warned today.
Publishing an analysis of the sector, the Health Foundation warned that quality of care was deteriorating in areas such as mental health and cancer, while in some cases the 18-week waiting time target is being missed.
Under current plans, the NHS has to meet a £20bn efficiency target by the end of 2014/15, while the foundation estimated this would increase to £30bn by 2021.
Ignoring the challenges presented by this risks ‘an avoidable crisis’ in the NHS in the months and years to come, director of policy Richard Taunt said.
A debate is needed about how the NHS can best be supported to become more efficient and consistently provide high quality care.
‘There is a risk that discussions around whether the NHS should be funded by the public or private purse become a dangerous distraction, at a time when the collective attention of the health service needs to be on how to deliver consistent and high-quality care,’ he added.
Among the recommendations in the More than money: closing the NHS quality gap report is a call for acceleration of changes to better coordinate care across different settings, including increasing provision outside hospitals.
Reforms intended to give patients a greater role in their care must also be made, the foundation added, with sustained funding support as they are introduced.
Although extra money will be needed both through a short-term transformation fund to pay for changes and on an ongoing basis, money alone will not be enough to provide a comprehensive service, the report added.
Systematic improvement will be needed, and NHS organisations should support providers in moves to deliver integrated care.
Such support should include boosting management improvement skills and analysis, the report stated.
