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The Government certainly wishes to rebuild bridges with the healthcare professions. This was illustrated most clearly by the appointment of Professor Sir Ara Darzi, a renowned surgeon, as a junior health minister in the summer reshuffle. It is also highly symbolic that he, rather than a professional politician, is leading the latest review of the health service. The review has been commissioned to advise on the challenges of delivering healthcare over the next decade, and is actively seeking the views of healthcare professionals on the front line. Sir Bruce Keogh, an equally renowned cardiothoracic surgeon, has also been appointed as NHS Clinical Director, with a brief to champion clinical engagement throughout the health service. Lord Darzi's review has been interpreted in some quarters as an opportunity for the Government to step back from some of the more radical aspects of the modernisation agenda. One of the most controversial initiatives was the decision to commission independent sector providers to deliver a range of elective procedures. The policy was originally conceived to achieve two objectives: to provide capacity in areas with particularly long waiting times and to encourage existing providers to improve their performance. It has been opposed on philosophical, practical and financial grounds and led to claims that the health service was being privatised by stealth.
Given this background, it was seen as highly significant when the Secretary of State announced the Department of Health (DH) would not be procuring services from the centre again and in future decisions will be made at a local level. However, it is often overlooked that a few weeks later Mr Johnson also announced that a new forum for independent sector providers would be established, to advise on local procurement practice. The DH has also announced details of a Framework for procuring External Support for Commissioners (FESC), which lists fourteen independent sector organisations that have been selected to offer Primary Care Trusts support services such as data analysis and contract management expertise.
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