Published 30 October 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b4473
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b4473

News

Watchdog calls on NHS to focus on outcomes and not administration

Adrian O’Dowd

1 London

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The NHS and local authorities in the United Kingdom should focus on the human side of health and social care, looking in particular at outcomes, when making financial decisions, a report from a public spending watchdog says.

The Audit Commission has called on the NHS and local authorities to look at how their joint funding can improve people’s lives, rather than concentrate on the mechanics of joint financing and the processes of partnership.

NHS organisations, particularly primary care trusts, have to work in partnership with councils to jointly commission and deliver services for patients who need both health and social care.

The report reviews the joint financing and integrated care arrangements between NHS bodies and councils with social care responsibilities for adults.

The commission carried out a review of relevant existing research and held workshops with 20 NHS organisations and 15 councils as well as analysing activity and spending data.

. . . [Full text of this article]


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to StumbleUpon StumbleUpon   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?

Access jobs at BMJ Careers
Whats new online at Student BMJ