Summary
Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, NHS England’s National Medical Director, has written about the NHS needing a revised model of care to meet rising demands for treatment from an ageing population.
The existing model of delivery and service, involving an over-reliance on hospital-based care, is neither fit for the future nor sustainable. Use of the term “crisis” would be an inappropriate over-exaggeration, he has asserted. The NHS is under pressure but coping; further adjustments to service configurations can only help.
“In future, many patients will be able to get much of their care, including diagnostic tests and an expanded range of treatments, at their GP surgery to save them having to go to their local hospital”.
Reference
We must meet the demands of a growing ageing population – Sir Bruce Keogh. London: NHS England, January 20th 2015.
