Health service managers say they are more concerned about the need to save money and cut budgets than the reforms contained within the government's health and social care bill, according to a survey for the NHS Confederation.
The research of more than 250 NHS bosses found that 63% said that balancing finances and making cost savings would be one of their top three problems, with 31% saying this would be the most important issue. This compares to only 13% who said that understanding and supporting GP commissioning would be their most important issue, although 46% put this in their top three.
The confederation, which represents more than 95% of NHS organisations, asked them to list the three most important issues in their work over the next 12 months in order of importance. Of those questioned, 46% said that protecting and improving the quality of services would be one of their top three issues, with 19% saying it would be their most important.
Concerns about integrating healthcare and achieving foundation trust status, as well as maintaining and protecting NHS staff also featured in replies to the survey.
Read the full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/healthcare-network/2011/mar/07/nhs-reform-finance-fears-confederation-survey