NHS: Standards

(asked on 27th February 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has plans to undertake a public consultation on the proposed review of NHS performance times.


Answered by
Stephen Hammond Portrait
Stephen Hammond
This question was answered on 4th March 2019

The clinically-led review of standards was announced by the Prime Minister in June 2018. The review is considering the appropriateness of operational standards for physical and mental health relating to planned, unplanned urgent or emergency care, as well as cancer.

The Long Term Plan provides a platform upon which innovative models of patient care can and are being developed. In that context, the National Health Service’s National Medical Director has been working with the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, Healthwatch England and many others to consider what matters most to patients, on the clinical issues with the current target regime, and what NHS staff believe will help them provide the best quality care for patients.

The review will report its interim findings in the spring of 2019, after which any recommended changes will be carefully tested across the NHS and be subject to a rigorous approach before they are implemented.

We are committed to ensuring that any potential changes to NHS performance standards are based on clinical evidence, and work in the interest of patient safety. If new standards are implemented they will not diminish current performance standards.

Reticulating Splines