We face a tough financial climate. We don’t know exactly how much we’ll need to save across the NHS, although the amount will be substantial. But it is not inevitable that cost cutting will reduce quality for two reasons.

Firstly, much activity has no value in the NHS so it can be cut without detriment to clinical outcomes or patient experience. NHS “better care better value” metrics highlight opportunities for this. Up to £0.5m (€0.56; $0.76) of savings are still available in most hospitals by reducing preoperative bed days.1 Potential to save millions of pounds exists, and more than 10% of …