NHS Confederation chief executive Mike Farrar said the passage of the Health and Social Care Bill was the start not the end of a long road ahead for the NHS
NHS Confederation chief executive Mike Farrar said:
“This is the beginning, not the end. NHS leaders now have to make sense of the hand they have been dealt. Let there be no doubt that this will be among the toughest projects the NHS has ever taken on
“We have to find our way through the considerable confusion and complexity that has been handed to us as we build and stress-test the new NHS system.
"We need to heal the rifts that have opened as many of our clinical staff have debated the merits of the Bill. The Government should start by giving them a compelling narrative for implementing these reforms.
“We need to completely redesign NHS services against a backdrop of unprecedented financial pressure, bringing the public and staff with us.
"We have to do all this with significantly reduced management capacity.
“The NHS is at its best when it is under pressure. But it will need strong leaders to step forward. The government will need to encourage their drive and innovation, rather than snuff it out with a system that generates cautious and overly-zealous bureaucracy.”