Senior NHS managers have been working out what they want to see as the next steps in restarting a more normal mix of services in the post-Covid situation. One thing is clear: few seem to want to see the NHS flip back to the system that prevailed before the virus hit at the beginning of the year.
The Health Financial Management Association (HFMA) has published a 20-page discussion paper The future NHS financial regime in England, which notes the potential to “redesign the national health and social care system from an almost blank sheet of paper.”
Only a minority of the HFMA members surveyed seem to favour a return to the system of commissioning and contracting for services that was established by the disastrous 2012 Health and Social Care Act.
It seems they want to change almost everything – but not enough to make a real difference.
One common factor between the HFMA and the NHS Confederation (which represents commissioners as well as providers) is their fear for the financial squeeze to come.
Full article in The Lockdown, 7 July 2020