Help us cut waste and boost care, PM tells medics on NHS’s 70th birthday

DOCTORS and nurses will be asked for ideas to slash waste and red tape in the NHS, Theresa May said last night.

In a message to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the health service, the Prime Minister warned that NHS bureaucracy too often ‘gets in the way of care’.

And she said radical reform was needed to cope with the twin threats of childhood obesity and dementia among the elderly.

Mrs May spoke as she invited healthcare professionals to Downing Street to celebrate the anniversary just weeks after she announced plans to boost NHS spending, funded in part by the ‘Brexit dividend’.

The Prime Minister said the health service was working on a new ten-year plan to ensure the money is spent wisely – and called on frontline workers to submit ideas.

‘I have asked the NHS itself to draw up a ten-year plan to make sure every penny of the new funding is well-spent and that leaders are accountable for delivery,’ she said. ‘Frontline staff like you will be involved in the plan’s development, so it delivers for patients and for the health service.

‘I know that you got into medicine and healthcare because you want to make a difference, you want to help people get better or manage their conditions.

‘Yet too often we see bureaucracy getting in the way of care, with process being put before patients. So the plan will highlight what changes we could make so that you can concentrate on putting patients first.’

Mrs May stressed her support for an NHS free at the point of need but insisted reform was vital, adding the plan will also embrace technology so the health service is fit to face the challenges of the future.