This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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NHS Reform Bill approved by Parliament
06/05/2004
The NHS Reform (Scotland) Bill was today approved by
MSPs in the Scottish Parliament.
Health Minister Malcolm Chisholm said:
"This bill will accelerate the development of
NHSScotland into a modern organisation that involves and
responds to patients, cares for its staff, and is free to
innovate and is unhindered by bureaucracy.
"The NHS needs to be able to operate free from
unnecessary bureaucracy and barriers and that is why I have
dissolved the Trusts, allowing frontline staff to work more
effectively together.
"Having a patient-centred NHS means giving patients a
voice, and the Bill places a firm duty on Boards to involve
the public. It also lays the ground for the establishment
of Community Health Partnerships (CHPs), which will have a
strong focus on public involvement and local decision
making by frontline staff.
"CHPs will ensure that communities, as well as health
care professionals, local authorities and the voluntary
sector can work together to improve the health of their
area and deliver high quality care.
"Staff too are at the core of the NHS and must be
properly managed and the Bill now places a duty on Boards
to have in place arrangements for improving the management
of staff and for workforce planning.
"Supported by a broad range of organisations, the Bill
is an important step towards realising the vision set out
in Partnership for Care, and the measures within it will
lead to improvements across the health service for staff
and patients alike."
The Bill includes clauses to:
- Complete the process of dissolving Trusts
- Allow for the establishment of new Community Health
Partnerships (CHPs)
- Provide powers of intervention for Ministers to
secure the quality of healthcare services
- Place a duty on Ministers and NHS Boards to promote
health improvement
- Place a duty on Health Boards to involve the public
more closely in planning, developing and operating the
NHS
- Put a requirement on Health Boards to ensure staff
are be well informed, appropriately trained, treated
fairly and involved in the decisions that affect
them
- Place a duty on Health Boards to co-operate in
developing more effective regional planning of health
services
- Require Health Boards to encourage equal
opportunities when discharging their duties
The NHS Reform Bill was published June 27, 2003. NHS
Trusts were officially dissolved on April 1 2004.