The NHS Improvement Plan June 2004

Sharing the vision - key quotes

2.11
By 2008, all patients will have a right to be seen and treated within a maximum waiting time of 18 weeks. A patient who is referred for planned hospital care will also have the right to choose any healthcare provider which meets the Healthcare Commission's standards, which can provide the care within the price that the NHS will pay, and which can meet the 18 weeks waiting time target.

2.13
Patients will also have more choice from a wider range of services in primary care, helping people to get access to more personalised healthcare. In addition to developing traditional primary care services, such as GP practices and pharmacies, the NHS will be increasingly working with innovative new providers.

3.17
Patients generally prefer to be at home rather than in hospital, provided that they are properly supported. This programme will ensure that more care will be provided closer to home.

3.23
….In all these cases, well-targeted and co-ordinated community-based healthcare, community equipment and social care are effective at providing the personalised care that they need and preventing stressful and disruptive admissions to hospital.

5.1
….The contribution of the independent sector will expand, particularly in relation to planned hospital care and diagnostic services, in the next wave of independent sector procurement.

5.12
Our aim is to transform diagnostic services by expanding capacity and making the best use of the resources we already have. Increasingly, the NHS will provide diagnostic services closer to the patient's home or work. Efficient diagnostics will enable faster and more appropriate access to acute care where this is needed and should also enable a wider range of care options to be considered without necessarily falling back on the acute sector. Investment in and procurement of improved diagnostic services from both public and private providers will be an increasingly important feature of the new system. Patients will be offered greater choice in where, when and how they access diagnostic services. Where appropriate, GPs will also be able to refer patients direct to a diagnostic facility, cutting out patient waits associated with going to diagnostic services via a consultant.

5.14
….Reflecting the urgency of developing diagnostic capacity and encouraging innovative solutions, the next wave of independent sector procurement is likely to include diagnostic services. The Department of Health will also be looking to expand diagnostic provision in primary care and "high street" settings, and via the letting of one or more major contracts to new providers to process electronic and routine diagnostic test results remotely.