The Health Foundation’s reaction to Jeremy Hunt’s ambition to reduce avoidable harm in the NHS

The Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt, has today (Wednesday 26 March), delivered a speech at Virginia Mason Medical Centre in the US setting out a new ambition to reduce avoidable harm in the NHS by half over the next three years, cutting costs and saving up to 6,000 lives.

Reacting to the announcement Dr Jennifer Dixon, Chief Executive of the Health Foundation, comments: 

'We welcome the commitment and ambition to improve patient safety demonstrated today by the Secretary of State and leaders of NHS providers. As the example of Virginia Mason shows, what really makes a difference is frontline organisations having the space and resources they need to set their own goals, motivate staff and skill them up to deliver better care for patients. It is challenging but crucial to get the balance right between top down direction and bottom up engagement. To accelerate progress, policy makers should give as much attention to enabling frontline organisations to understand and improve the quality of their services as they do to scrutinising them.'

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Mike Findlay, Media Manager
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E: mike.findlay@health.org.uk