What do I need to know about the White Paper?
The fundamental aim of Our health, our care, our say: a new direction for community services is to give people more control of their health and care services.
This means no central blueprint for how things should be done. It carries forward the vision set out in the adult social care Green Paper Independence, Well-being and Choice, and the messages from the listening exercise, Your health, your care, your say.
Three major reasons support this change:
- public consultations called for greater flexibility so services reflect the way people live their lives
- future challenges demand greater focus on healthy living and prevention of illness
- reforms have improved services which must be more finely tuned to people's needs.
What the Government plans to do:
- people will become the most important drivers for service improvement
- support for health and well-being will be given to individuals by piloting the NHS 'Life Check' and introducing the Fitter Britain scheme.
To do this the Government will:
Improve access to services through:
Improve access to services through:
- guaranteed patient registration at a local open practice
- longer GP opening times
- more access to nurses at first contact with patients
- improved services in deprived areas
- self-referral to selected services.
Improve access to community services by:
Improve access to community services by:
- increasing direct payments to patients and piloting of individual budgets
- reconfiguring primary care trusts (PCTs)
- improving access for young people to sexual and mental health services
- increasing investment in end-of-life care.
Improve care for those with long-term conditions by:
Improve care for those with long-term conditions by:
- trebling investment in Expert Patient Programme
- better care planning on a joint basis
- exploring changes to Payment by Results.
Shift care closer to where people live by:
Shift care closer to where people live by:
- providing more facilities in convenient settings
- extending eligibility for Patient Transport Services
- investing in services for older people
- developing new community hospitals.
Key milestones
NHS 'Life Check':
- full launch by end of 2008-2009.
Better access to GPs:
- guaranteed acceptance, streamlined registration by 2007-2008
- new opening hours agreed with GPs from 2007-2008.
Better access to services:
- extend individual budgets and direct payment pilots to 2008-2009
- more maternity services available by 2009
- end-of-life care networks in place by 2009.
Support for people with longer-term needs:
- trebled investment in Expert Patient Programme by 2009.
Care closer to home:
- pilot sites for self-referral progamme in six specialties, which have yet to be decided, set up by 2006-2007.
