Burnham: NHS can "go higher"

Health Minister Andy Burnham addressed his party's annual conference, promising that under Labour the NHS can "go higher".

His speech, which played up Labour's "achievements" and criticised the Tories, contained some interesting proposals.

If we strip away the political rhetoric and self-congratulation and simply look at that substance of Mr Burnham's plans, we find some welcome, if limited, reforms.

So what is he proposing to do? "Our mission must be to take [the NHS] from good to great, more preventative and people-centred, keeping people well and out of hospital, empowering them to choose what they know is best for them and where they want to be treated" said Mr Burnham

This is a noble aim, of course. It is right that the NHS should move towards more preventative rather than reactive treatment and we support empowering patients to have greater control of their healthcare.

In terms of specifics, Mr Burnham explained that, in relation to cancer care, money will be "switched" into early diagnosis and GPs will be given "direct access to ultrasound and MRI scans." This is a positive (and overdue) move which could actually save the NHS a great deal of money.

On the subject of money he spoke of the need for an "efficiency drive" - suggesting that he would cut bureaucracy rather than services as the need to make financial cutbacks takes hold. Usefuly, he also distanced himself from Hewitt's target-obsessed reform agenda, telling conference that "[I] don't want to impose top-down solutions on staff."

He talked about staff empowerment, but was short on detail. He promoted his idea that patients should be able to choose their own GP - something the NHS Improvement Society strongly supports.

One of the most popular proposals was to axe hospital car parking fees for patients and their families. At last! Several years of lobbying by patients' groups has finally paid off. Thank you for listening, Mr Burnham! He finally made positive noises about creating a better social care system, recognising that as it stands "the care system is a cruel lottery".

There were several positives to come from Mr Burnham's speech, but most of his reforms - while facilitating welcome improvement - were not particularly adventurous. Neither were they unexpected. The NHS has been moving towards prventative treatment for some time and plans for increasing patient choice are hardly new. But the speech indicated further movement in the right direction.