Liberating the NHS: An Information Revolution - A consultation on proposals Liberating the NHS: Greater choice and control - A consultation on proposals

Background

• The White Paper

Equity and excellence: Liberating the NHS

, published on 12 July 2010, sets out proposals for the NHS to become a truly world-class service that is: • • •

easy to access

, treats people as

individuals

and offers care that is safe and of the

highest quality

• It set out a vision for an NHS that: • • • puts patients at the heart of everything that we do achieves outcomes that are among the best in the world empowers our clinicians to deliver results based on the needs of patients

Background

• In order to help make the vision a reality, the White Paper set out a commitment to seeking further views on proposals to give people more information and greater choice about their care • Two further public consultations set out our proposals for what is needed to achieve this vision: –

Liberating the NHS: An Information Revolution

–

Liberating the NHS: Greater choice and control

Liberating the NHS

Why are information and choice important to the NHS vision?

What would success look like?

• For patients and service users, there should be “no decision about me, without me” • People should be involved as much as they want to be in every decision about their care: what care they want and how and where they want it delivered • In order for this to happen, people actually need to be given a greater range of choices, and high quality information to help them take greater control of their care • Information is used routinely to support the delivery of safe, high quality, people-centred care

Greater choice and control

• Many people value being able to make choices, and giving people more choice can lead to better outcomes and experiences, can promote equalities and reduce inequalities • We want the presumption to be that everyone has choice and control over their care and treatment, and choice of any willing provider for NHS care, wherever relevant • When making these choices, decision-making about their treatment or care should be shared between them and their health and care professionals

What does ‘

Greater choice and control

’ propose?

•

Liberating the NHS: Greater choice and control

proposes: – – – – – – increasing the current offer of choice of healthcare provider, going further by enabling people to choose a named consultant-led team, giving people more choice of where to have diagnostic tests and more choice of where to have their treatment after a diagnosis has been made. offering more choice in maternity services, mental health services and more choice in end of life care. ensuring people are offered a choice of treatment as a matter of course wherever feasible, ensuring people with long term conditions can make choices about their care and are given the confidence to manage their condition.

Engagement questions: Greater choice and control

• How should people have greater choice and control over their care? How can we make this as personalised as possible?

• Which healthcare services should be our priorities for introducing choice of any willing provider?

• How can we ensure that everyone benefits from having greater choice and control of their health and care services and that everyone gets an opportunity to exercise greater choice and control?

You are encouraged to respond to the more detailed questions included in the two consultation documents

•

An Information Revolution

Information supports the delivery of high quality care. • Information on treatments, conditions and lifestyle choices, helping people look after their own & their family’s health & care, should reach everyone and should be easy to understand. • People’s care records should become routinely available to them, starting with their GP record. • Intermediaries should be free to innovate and present data. • The most important source of data is the patient or service user’s care record, with data recorded once at the point of care. This can then be used to generate a wealth of high quality information that, in turn, gives people real knowledge and choice

•

What will ‘

An Information Revolution’

mean for people?

Proposals are still subject to consultation, but we envisage that: – – – – – people will have greater access and control of their health and social care records more information on treatments, conditions & lifestyle choices, helping people look after their own and their family’s health & care will reach everyone and will be easy to understand there will be greater emphasis on information generated by patients and service users, to help NHS and social care systems become more responsive a wider range of providers to analyse and present information to the public will help promote innovation and enable greater tailoring of information to individual needs improved use of digital technologies will provide more convenient, higher quality, safer and more efficient & effective care

Engagement questions: An Information Revolution

• How can information and technology help drive better care and better outcomes in the most effective and efficient way?

• As a patient or service user, would you be interested in having easy access to and control over your care records? Do you have any concerns? How could they be overcome?

• How can a health and social care information revolution benefit everyone, including those who need care most but may not have direct access to or know how to use information technology?

You are encouraged to respond to the more detailed questions included in the two consultation documents

Next steps

• It is important that we capture the views of as wide a range of people as possible throughout these consultations • Talk to your colleagues and patients about this vision, seek their feedback, give your response to the consultation and encourage others to do the same • Later in the year we will also be publishing for consultation a Public Health White Paper and proposals for workforce planning, education and training • You can find out more, including details of how to respond to these two consultations, at www.dh.gov.uk/liberatingthenhs . The consultations will remain open until 14 January 2011.