Brown sets out his plans for NHS reform

4:26pm Wednesday 14th May 2008

HOSPITALS that fail to satisfy or cure patients face having funding slashed under the Government's NHS reform plans.

The public will also be given rights to minimum standards of treatment through a new health service constitution.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the proposals, set out in the draft Queen's Speech, would give people control over local services.

He told MPs: "For the first time, payments to NHS hospitals will be adjusted according to patient satisfaction and health outcomes, deepening our commitment to a patient-focused NHS."

The change could be a radical departure from the current payment-by-results system, where hospitals receive a set sum for every treatment they carry out.

Mr Brown said people would also be able to access more information, control personal budgets for treatment, and have greater say in major decisions by primary care trusts.

The NHS Reform Bill will introduce a comprehensive performance regime to ensure no healthcare provider falls below minimum standards, he added.

The new constitution will aim to drive up standards by setting out what the NHS must deliver for individuals.

Mr Brown told the Commons: "We will establish a constitution of the NHS that sets out what patients can expect to get from the health service including entitlements to minimum standards of access, quality and safety."

Tory leader David Cameron said his party had proposed a NHS constitution last year.

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