Hewitt calls for end to sickness service
Shifting the focus of healthcare from treating sick people towards prevention is crucial, Patricia Hewitt said today as she announced an extra £8.9billion for health promotion.
Speaking at the Guardian's Managing New Realities conference, the health secretary said the money would help councils to work with NHS trusts and community groups to tackle health inequalities.
"For too long health has been seen simply in terms of hospitals and bed numbers. NHS stands for the National Health Service not the National Sickness Service and we want it to live up to its name," Ms Hewitt said.
"We need to radically change the culture of how we shape and deliver care - shifting focus from curing the sick to the proactive prevention of ill health, as well as tackling health inequalities."
The additional money - targeted at the country's most deprived areas - will help the local NHS and local councils come together to start schemes that will help deal with health challenges in their area - such as teenage pregnancy, obesity, and mental health.
It marks a shift in the way services have been delivered and are part of the government's policy to deliver care closer to people's homes and out of hospitals and give people more choice and control over their own health.
The plans could see services delivered in radical new ways such as the NHS paying for air conditioning facilities in the homes of people with chronic lung disease that may be worsened by hot weather, and GPs prescribing anger management classes for children with behavioural problems.
"By encouraging local government and the NHS to work more closely with their communities, we can transform the way we deliver healthcare - tackling health inequalities, preventing serious illness, giving people greater choices as well as treating the sick," Ms Hewitt said.
"I want to see greater flexibility in the use of resources to target investment where it will have biggest impact to improve health and prevent premature death.
"By giving GPs more flexibility in how they use NHS money and investing more in community based programmes, local services will be able to offer people a seamless service of care - whether in a hospital, in their home or in the community."
Ms Hewitt also invited views on working arrangements in the commissioning framework of health and wellbeing that will bring local councils and the NHS closer together to deliver better care.