CBI calls for greater innovation in the NHS

In a new report, Best of health: Improving lives through smarter care, the UK's leading business group argued the NHS is targeting resources in the wrong places with too many people treated in hospitals because of a lack of suitable alternatives.

Instead, the CBI said much more care could be delivered at home or in the community, and by a range of different providers. This would reduce the number of costly hospital admissions and could save around £15bn by 2015.

John Cridland, CBI deputy director-general, said: 'Businesses have a strong interest in the well-being of the NHS, as employers and as taxpayers. The NHS today faces some tough choices. The cost of healthcare is rising inexorably, while demand for high-quality services is mounting. And this is happening at a time when the public finances are severely constrained.'

"At present, resources are skewed in favour of hospital care, but there is considerable scope for treating more people at home, near their workplace or the high street. By re-engineering health services to give people more choice about how and where they are treated, we could diagnose problems earlier and reduce the number of costly hospital admissions.'

The CBI's report outlines a number of challenges facing the NHS. These include coping with an ageing population; the rise of conditions, such as obesity and alcohol abuse; and having to treat twice as many patients with long-term and chronic conditions over the next 20 years. Moreover, these challenges will have to be met at a time of constrained finances.

The CBI says the NHS will need to change to meet these challenges, arguing that the current structure - with its focus on reactive and emergency treatment, largely based around hospitals - has barely changed since its inception in 1948.

The report highlights examples where the NHS and independent sectors are working together successfully to provide high-quality, convenient services at less cost.

Mr Cridland added: 'Independent providers are already working within the NHS to provide high-quality services for patients, including carrying out hip operations and running walk-in medical centres.'

'Meanwhile, patients with chronic conditions are making the most of technological advances to ensure that more of their treatment happens in the comfort of their own home. If the examples of good practice contained in this report were applied more widely, we estimate that around £15bn could be saved by 2015. But for that to happen, the Government must allow the best provider to deliver health services, irrespective of whether they are from the NHS, private or voluntary sectors.'

Among the CBI's proposals for ensuring the NHS is best placed to meet the challenges ahead are:
• Building on solutions that are already working. For example, rolling-out more walk-in centres on the high street and near workplaces to widen access to health services.
• Introducing real and fair competition to drive improvements and efficiency. The best healthcare provider – whether they are from the public, private or third sectors – should be allowed to bid for contracts on a level playing field.
• Widening choice and diversity in community care to allow more people to receive treatment at home or closer to home, and decommissioning services that are no longer needed.
• Increasing collaboration between local authorities and health authorities to identify overlaps in provision and opportunities to share resources in order to reduce costs. For example, a single point of contact for older people receiving meals on wheels from their local authority, as well as visits from a district nursing team to supervise them taking medication.
• Harnessing the skills and expertise of healthcare professionals in service re-designs and providing more opportunities for their professional development. This would build on the success of GP and nurse-led surgeries, which often provide a wider range of services for patients and longer opening times than traditional surgeries.
• Making better use of technology, including 'telecare' and 'telehealth', which can be used to alert healthcare staff if an older person has a fall, or to remind patients to take medication. This would allow older people to live independently in their homes for longer, and cut the number of beds needed in care homes and emergency admissions to hospitals.