NHS England (NHSE) and NHS Improvement (NHSI) have to reduce their costs by a fifth, official papers have revealed.
Following a joint board meeting on 27 September, NHSE and NHSI said they have a ‘shared commitment to deliver a 20% efficiency’ within their new operating model.
An NHS spokesperson told Healthcare Leader that they do not have anything to add at this stage beyond the processes and implementation plans and could not confirm how they will deliver that target.
This comes after the two organisations announced in March that they will work together more closely, establishing ‘working arrangements’ from September 2018 and a ‘new operating model’ from April 2019.
‘Sharper focus on improving productivity’
NHSE and NHSI said that in line with the funding settlement and ‘ambition for the long-term plan’, they ‘must have a sharper focus on improving productivity and efficiency’.
The board papers stated that the bodies are ‘committed to removing duplication and doing things only once, where possible.
‘Both organisations have therefore committed to an overarching set of financial principles, within a 20% shared efficiency envelope, to ensure the corporate, regional and local end to end design work delivers the efficiencies required’.
Joint decisions
According to the papers, ‘NHS system-level decision will be made jointly’, through the NHS Executive Group, which comprises 20 members.
‘The 20 members of the NHS Executive Group will develop an integrated strategy building from the long-term plan for the NHS, as well as a set of clear actions to ensure effective and consistent implementation of these priorities across their teams,’ the papers said.
Chancellor of the exchequer Philip Hammond will reveal the long-term plan at the end of the month. In June, Prime Minister Theresa May announced that the Government will inject £20.5bn in real terms into the NHS England budget by 2023/24.
What does closer collaboration between NHSE and NHSI mean? Find out more here.
