Health service is in ‘critical condition’ but public support is ‘rock solid’, say three thinktanks in letter to political leaders
The Tony Blair Institute, the eponymous thinktank run by the former prime minister, has published a report today setting out how he thinks the NHS should be reformed. As Denis Campbell reports, it advocates greater use of private healthcare firms to provide services for NHS patients (something Blair championed when he was in office).
The report is not about charging patients. It says being “free at the point of use and funded through general taxation” should remain the principle at the heart of the health service, and it warns that if the NHS does not reform, the private sector will benefit.
There should be active encouragement of new providers to enter the system, particularly for high-volume, low-complexity services, many of which can now be provided digitally. The NHS App is creating a vibrant marketplace for digital providers to enter the NHS centrally in ways that were not possible before, creating opportunities for greater choice and competition; and for partnership between the private health sector and the NHS. This can include the availability of co-payment options to expand more rapidly or offer additional features.
I think we’ve already got a two-tier system in this country where people who can afford it are paying to go private and those who can’t are being left behind.
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