Simple mantra that could save the NHS

FROM the moment he became NHS England Chief Executive – awarding himself a 10 per cent pay cut – Simon Stevens marked himself down as a public servant with a welcome difference. One year on, he shows encouraging signs of living up to that early promise, encapsulated in his mantra: ‘Think like a patient, act like a taxpayer.’

Indeed, he has brought an immensely refreshing change of attitude, after a succession of shroud-waving predecessors whose solution to every problem was to hold out a begging bowl to the Treasury.

For his part, Mr Stevens declares he’s determined to eradicate inefficiencies in a behemoth that wasted an incredible £3.3billion on agency staff last year, while paying vastly more than it needed for medical equipment and supplies.

More cheering still, he has grasped that the NHS can provide a better service and save money, through commonsense reforms such as seven-day-a-week primary care to ease pressure on hospitals. Meanwhile, he proposes simple preventive measures, from tackling the scourge of childhood obesity by cutting sugar content in fizzy drinks to fitting grab rails in the homes of the elderly, so as to reduce the £2billion a year the NHS spends on treating fractures from falls.

But as Mr Stevens warns, putting the service on a sustainable footing will require a ‘huge team effort’, involving fast food chains, drinks manufacturers, parents watching their children’s diets – and, of course, NHS staff themselves.

How deeply depressing, then, that the doctors’ union has reacted to his exciting vision with its habitual prophecies of doom, accusing the Government of pursuing efficiencies ‘instead of properly addressing inadequate NHS funding’.

Can the BMA – increasingly the epitome of a vested interest – really not see the vast scope for improvement within the lavish existing budget? Why doesn’t it try listening to Mr Stevens for a change – or, better still, adopt his mantra?