David Cameron speech on NHS reforms

David Cameron speech on NHS reforms; Cameron speech SOT First, I've heard doctors tell me they want more choice on behalf of their patients, but they want to be sure that competition is introduced in a properly managed and orderly way / And I've heard our hospital doctors say they are incredibly proud of what they do and quite prepared to be judged one hospital against another, one team against another, but fear the situation where a new operator can come in without any of the NHS overheads, costs and pensions and cherry pick their simplest cases / Now I do believe competition is a good thing. But not as an end in itself / It is a means to give doctors more choice to get the best possible care for their patients, and for patients to have that choice too / It is a means of bringing in fresh thinking, new ideas, different ways of doing things that deliver better and better value for money / Put simply: competition is one way we can make things work better for patients / This isn't ideological theory / A study published by the London School of Economics found hospitals in areas with more choice had lower death rates / And there's now real evidence that England is delivering more for its money than any of the devolved nations, in part because of the competitive reforms initiated by Tony Blair and Alan Milburn / And allowing new organisations in isn't anything particularly new either / If you go abroad, to Sweden, to Germany, to Spain, you will see lots of different healthcare organisations providing care paid for by the state / And our NHS too has always benefited from a mixed economy of providers / Indeed, £1 in every £20 currently spent by the NHS goes to a private or voluntary sector provider / Providers like the independent Horder Centre in East Sussex, which delivers orthopaedic care and has high patient satisfaction, low rates of readmission, and excellent outcomes / So new providers, more choice and competition raises standards and delivers values for m...