Only an injection of cash can avert an NHS crisis | Denis Campbell Its new chief executive Simon Stevens is on a mission to save the NHS. But will the coalition come up with a pre-election bailout?
Suddenly the rhetoric around the NHS has got very dramatic. The service is "at a defining moment". Says who? None other than Simon Stevens, NHS England's new chief executive. His self-declared mission: to make the NHS sustainable. No pressure, eh? Interestingly, the ex-Labour special adviser personally wooed by David Cameron to take the job seems relaxed about being seen so widely as the service's saviour. Today brings his first big speech. Stevens' turn at the NHS Confederation's annual conference in Liverpool this week will expand upon themes he set out last week about reorganising services out of hospital care and making proper support for older people the top priority. Rarely have an NHS leader's views been more eagerly anticipated, or important. Answers and action are urgent.
The King's Fund, not an organisation given to hyperbole, recently warned that "the NHS is rapidly approaching a major crisis". The threat in the near future is of a service that, without a significant injection of extra cash, will run out of money and see deficits becoming common, care standards slipping or both. Continue reading... The Guardian
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