Shadow Secretary of Health, Diane Abbot will be speaking Book online now
Since January NHS England has driven through a massive new reorganisation of the NHS. They have carved the country into 44 “footprints” in which commissioners, NHS Trusts and local authorities are required to collaborate on 5-year plans to generate massive savings.
Each Footprint has to submit a “Sustainability and Transformation Plan” (STP) to NHS England by the autumn and be ready to implement the changes quickly to balance the books: only plans which satisfy NHS England will ensure access to £1.8 billion of “transformation funding”.
The system has no legal basis. Steven’s plan simply sidelines existing Clinical Commissioning Groups – but leaves them still obliged by the Health & Social Care Act to continue to carve up services into bite sized, fragmented chunks to be opened up to “any qualified provider” or put out to competitive tender. The whole fragmented, wasteful costly market system remains intact.
So what are the plans that local health bosses are hatching up in secret? How do these new structures work?
Who is in charge, and how can campaigners and local communities make them accountable and prevent them cutting and centralising services and worsening access problems for patients needing care?
With jobs and services at stake, how can unions collaborate with local campaigners and political parties to maximise the impact of their efforts?
Come and discuss at a conference that seeks to develop policy as a basis to strengthen and unite our efforts.
Open to all. LUNCH provided.
Check out our STP Watch pages at www.healthcampaignstogether.com, and share your thoughts and local plans: email us at stpwatch@gmail.com