This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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NHS Reform Bill
03/03/2004
The new model NHS will be patient driven and unladen with old bureaucratic baggage, Health Minister Malcolm Chisholm said today.
Speaking in Parliament, the Minister outlined how the NHS Reform (Scotland) Bill will benefit staff and patients alike.
Key measures of the Bill include:
- The removal of references from the statute book to "NHS Trusts";
- The establishment new Community Health Partnerships (CHPs); and
- Giving Ministers new powers to intervene to secure the quality of healthcare services.
Mr Chisholm said:
"The NHS Reform Bill contains the legislative changes that are necessary to realise the vision set out in the White Paper, Partnership for Care.
"This is a vision of a health service with a culture of care that is developed and fostered by a new partnership between patients, staff and government. A vision where patients are the key drivers of change and frontline staff are the leaders of the change process.
"It will deliver a modern health service which is responsive to the needs of patients and ensures that services are designed with the needs of patients in mind. It will also make health improvement a priority for the NHS. This will help all Scots to live life to the full and recoup the benefits from good health and well being.
"Community Health Partnerships will help promote the delivery of healthcare that is responsive to the needs of local populations and to develop more services in community settings.
"The abolition of Trusts will help single system working and a health service that is built on collaboration, not competition.
"The NHS Reform Bill has been broadly supported by a variety of organisations. Representing an important step towards the vision I set out in Partnership for Care, it will lead to improvements across the health service that will benefit staff and patients alike."
The NHS Reform Bill was published 27 June 2003. Briefing notes on the Bill can be found at www.scottish.parliament.uk or http://www.scotland.gov.uk/pages/news/2003/05/SENW527.aspx.
The Bill will:
- The removal of references from the statute book to "NHS Trusts";
- The establishment new Community Health Partnerships;
- Placing a duty on Health Boards to involve the public in planning, developing and operating the NHS. This will be supported by the dissolution of Local Health Councils and the setting up of a new Scottish Health Council within NHSQIS;
- Obliging Health Boards to co-operate with each other in developing more effective regional planning of health services;
- Giving Ministers new powers to intervene to secure the quality of healthcare services; and
- Giving Ministers and Health Boards a new, direct responsibility for promoting health improvement.