Community Care Live communitycare.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from communitycare.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
As the pandemic took off, ministers seem to have been surprised and frustrated by how little control they have over the operation of the NHS. It was previously given away under the reforms pushed through by Andrew Lansley in 2012. This week’s white paper takes steps to redress that and to more centrally direct social care.
The giveaway was done in plain sight. The evident intention was in the title of the 2010 white paper, Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS. This followed on from a Conservative vision document: NHS autonomy and accountability.
The ‘new’ NHS was to be run by NHS England at arms-length, with a mandate from the secretary of state. GPs were to have a greatly enhanced role in commissioning, competition would be increased, and the functions of primary care trusts redistributed.