Nhs reform- what was announced

[CoffeeCakeChill]

I sat with the TV on in the background whilst wfh to hear what the health sec had to say about "nhs reform" there was a segment on jeremy vine about people paying private by their own choice- but AIBU to think there really is very little in the news about this? Whats actually been proposed? Or are we still waiting?

I understand offering NHS patients the option to go private if waited/will wait 18m do we know how many people this will help? Wil private hospitals be charging the NHS their usual tarrif? I know the war in ukraine is the main headline but I am slightly concerned this may be a step towards nhs privatisation? Have I got my facts wrong and there was actually nothing announced?

Are you talking about the new health and social care bill, I don't think there were any particular announcements yesterday, it's in the lords afaik? I do think there's been a pretty good amount of media coverage of it tbh given its mainly about the rather unsexy and arcane topic of how money is moved around the NHS and the associated bureaucracies and given everything else that's happening in the world - for balanced, informed and understandable content on health policy I would always recommend the King's Fund, they have a number of good explanations and articles on their site about it.

In very very short terms, NHS patients being treated privately is not a new proposal, private healthcare (and charities and third sector bodies) have been providing elective surgery, diagnostics and some specialist services to the nhs for decades now, plus of course most nursing and residential homes and nearly all domiciliary social care is already private. Whether you think that's a good thing or not depends on your politics of course. I will say that the few attempts there have been for private providers to take over bigger services e.g. whole hospitals have been conspicuous failures and there's nothing in the new bill to me that makes that likely. The tariffs charged by private providers to the state/NHS are a matter for negotiation/procurement but often would be less than that charged to an individual patient because the NHS would be purchasing a block - again there are those that think this is helping give additional capacity to the NHS therefore helping patients, at a fair price and is a good and efficient thing, others say it's despicable that private companies are making profit off the NHS and that the negotiations/procurement processes of the NHS are rubbish and we're being ripped off - if you strive hard enough you can probably believe both are true tbh . Some people esp on the left do think the new bill is a step towards further privatisation of the NHS, others think that by reducing the emphasis on competition/commerciality and increasing the need for collaboration and partnership working across the NHS itself it will reduce the need for private/commercial services - either way it's certainly not as simple as the tabloids or those with a strong/one sided vested political interest would have you believe in easy soundbites either way...