The Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley, has outlined the Government’s plans for healthcare in the NHS White Paper: 'Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS' published yesterday.

Lansley had promised in May that the NHS under the new Government will “be centred on a sound evidence base, support from GP commissioners and strengthened arrangements for public and patient engagement, including local authorities.” (Read the full press release). 

This promise has led to the Government's proposal for a "radical simplification" of the NHS, removing layers of management and taking an approach to the NHS which will place "power in the hands of patients and clinicians."

As part of its promise for an "increased emphasis on research, analysis and evaluation," research will be a continued priority. Included in the White Paper is a stated commitment to health research, including the continued promotion of the CLAHRCs. It states that “the Government is committed to the promotion and conduct of research as a core NHS role.” It adds: “The Department will continue to promote the role of Biomedical Research Centres and Units, Academic Health Science Centres and Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care, to develop research and to unlock synergies between research, education and patient care.” 

Also outlined in the Government's plans for the NHS are:

• The phasing out and eventual abolition of all PCTs, effective as of April 2013. In the interim, the Government wants to introduce a GP consortia in 2011, to gradually take on the role of commissioning healthcare. Dependent upon the passing of this bill, they will become statutory bodies in 2013.
  

• The Government will "radically delay and simplify the number of NHS bodies, and radically reduce the Department of Health's own NHS functions."

• The paper commits to "freeing staff from excessive bureaucracy and top-down control." This translates to "efficiency savings" of £20 billion, including the reduction of management costs by 45% over the next four years to "free up resources for front-line care."

• In an attempt to tackle the deficit, the paper promises that spending and staffing "will be rebalanced towards clinical staffing and front-line support rather than excessive administration." This will result in fewer jobs overall in the NHS at the end of this parliamentary term.