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.