In one of the biggest shakeups in the history of the UK's state-funded health system, the new coalition government announced that it will cut a layer of financial managers and save as much as 20 billion pounds ($30 billion) by 2014, according to the Wall Street Journal.
In a 60-page white paper that described the restructuring, the government said that "the NHS simply cannot continue to afford to support the costs of the existing bureaucracy; and the government has a moral obligation to release as much money as possible into supporting front-line care."
The government intends to cut management costs by more than 45 percent over the next four years.
Doctors will be asked to decide how to spend most of the National Health Service's 105 billion-pound yearly budget. A committee will allocate budgets to groups of general practitioners in each area, who then will decide how the money should be spent on the local residents.
Under the new plans, according to an NHS press release, patients will be able to choose which general practitioner's practice they register with, regardless of where they live, and choose between consultant-led teams. More comprehensive and transparent information, such as patients' own ratings, will help them choose doctors.
To learn more:
- read the WSJ article (subscription required)
- read the UK government white paper, "Equity and excellence: liberating the NHS"
- read the UK press release