Description
“The New NHS Modern and Dependable”
White Paper1
has succeeded in adically shifting
the focus from just “balancing the books” to
improving the quality of care to patients. The
Government has decreed that every NHS Trust
must embrace the concept of clinical gove nance
so that quality is at the core, both of their
esponsibilities as organisations and of each of
their staff as individual p ofessionals. This article
examines the likely impact of the most adical
innovation in the NHS since the introduction of
“fundholding”.
Presently NHS Trusts ’ principal statutory
duties are financial. The new NHS white paper
outlined a new legal equirement, a statutory
duty of quality of care on all hospitals in England
from 1999. Chief Executives will carry ultimate
responsibility for assuring the quality of the
services provided by their NHS Trust.
