Emphasise benefits of reconfiguration to support change, says report

Three UK health bodies representing doctors, managers, and patients have warned that the NHS in England must get people more involved in radical change of services or risk “paralysis.”

The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, the NHS Confederation, and the National Voices coalition of patient charities said that a new approach was needed to make essential service reconfigurations work.

The debate had become “toxic” and “polarised,” they said, because it was associated with hospital closures and downgrades driven by financial or clinical crises. It was vital that the public, patients, and staff were fully involved from the start in shaping changes and in developing well …