Andy Burnham speech to the NHS Chief Executives Conference

Andy Burnham speech to the NHS Chief Executives Conference; Burnham speech SOT- Second, we will provide more choice for patients – giving them the ability to register with a GP wherever they choose by abolishing practice boundaries, an option of seeing a doctor in the evenings and weekends in every area, and more access to services – like chemotherapy and dialysis – at home or in the community. - Third, more work will be taken out of hospitals. As part of this, we will provide dedicated carers for patients with cancer or serious long-term conditions who can benefit from a more personal approach to nursing. We expect all parts of the NHS to continually review the way long-term conditions are managed and to seek out and adopt best practice. Where appropriate this should include the provision of personalised one-to-one support by a health professional, particularly for more complex conditions. We will consider and cost the possibility of a patient entitlement in this area. This will benefit millions of people. We will also introduce a three-digit national non-urgent number to reduce pressure on hospitals.- Fourth, there will be new rights to high quality care – including the right to see a cancer specialist in two weeks for urgent cases, and in time, a one-week wait for crucial tests. We will propose the right for patients to die at home. Choice and dignity at the end of life is the mark of a civilised health system. The NHS will ensure a dying patient can choose where they wish to spend their final days. - Fifth, we will provide more freedom for hospitals. The best NHS foundation trusts will be free to work across a wider area. We will encourage high-performing foundation trusts based in one area to provide both acute and community services in other areas, if the PCTs in those areas want to commission from them. And we want to see more integrated provision across the entire patient pathway. We open the possibility of acute trust providing GP servic...