News / Call for radical reform across London

01 July 2013

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Without major reform of the way services are delivered in London, the NHS across the capital is in danger of becoming financially unsustainable, according to the King’s Fund.

A report published at the end of June warned that pressure was growing on London’s health providers. The report, Leading health care in London; time for a radical response, stated that four out of the five most financially challenged NHS trusts in England are in the capital.

In order to avoid becoming unsustainable, hospital services must be reorganised, primary care improved and services moved into the community, it said.

The King’s Fund called on the government to revise or suspend existing regulations on NHS mergers and competition in the capital to reduce delays.

And while it was important to take action quickly, the fund argued that the new NHS structure was unlikely to deliver the necessary changes.

A large number of bodies had unclear remits and no single organisation was responsible for leading change.

King’s Fund chief executive Chris Ham said patient care was likely to suffer as a result of financial unsustainability.

‘The stakes could not be higher, yet the structures now in place are not fit for purpose,’ he said. ‘Courage will be needed to implement a radically different approach capable of delivering the changes required.’

NHS England’s London office should take on a city-wide planning role, working with clinical commissioning groups, said the report. Hospitals would work together in large-scale networks.

The networks could be introduced with minimal disruption, as they would be based on the three academic science networks, which already bring together hospitals to work in partnership.