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The Department is working to reduce NHS bureaucracy and empower staff to spend less time dealing with red tape and more time delivering healthcare to patients. It is taking a number of actions to ensure the burden of data collection is minimised as much as possible, by removing overlap and duplication. It is also working to streamline the inspection process.
Published: 11/08/2009
On 11 June 2009, the Provider Advisory Group, an independent group involving the Independent Healthcare Advisory Services and the NHS Confederation, published a report highlighting the growing bureaucratic burden faced by healthcare providers because of regulation, inspection and accreditation. The report made a number of recommendations for the Department of Health, the Care Quality Commission and the Information Centre for Health and Social Care. The Department of Health welcomes this report and agrees with with the need to reduce duplication and unnecessary bureaucracy. The Department's response to the recommendations in the report attached below outlines how we will take this work forward to achieve further improvements supporting staff and patients.
On 4 September 2008, the Lifting the Burdens Task Force, an independent body established by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, published their review of health and social care burdens. The review considered the burdens placed on local Government as a result of its relationship with the Department of Health, and made a number of recommendations to address issues raised. This is the Department's formal response to that review.
The DH Simplification Plan aims to reduce burdens on the public and private sector. Based on consultation with the frontline and industry, the plan covers how the Department and arm's length bodies are reducing the burden of regulation on stakeholders. Key areas addressed are the health and adult social care registration system, a committment to 30% reduction in data burden on frontline, and work with the third sector to deliver health and care services.
NHS personnel can contact the DH Reducing burdens team directly to provide comments or suggestions for future work.
To comply with the recently revised Code of Practice on Guidance, links to frequently used DH guidance material which effect businesses and third sector organisations are included in this section.
The NHS Controls Assurance regime and the requirement to report centrally on it were scrapped from 1st August 2004. The important elements of the Controls Assurance standards were incorporated into the Standards for Better Health.
