NHS reforms must encourage active citizens

Published by Danny Calogero for Fellows Associates in Health and also in Central Government, Communities, Local Government

The government must go further if it is to create an information revolution which empowers individuals, achieves better outcomes and reduces health inequalities in our society, says Northgate Public Services today.

In a response to the government’s consultation Liberating the NHS: an information revolution, Northgate welcomes the overall direction of the consultation, but argues that the government should put active citizens at the heart of its strategy. The active citizen approach, where individuals are fully informed and engaged in their own healthcare, was shown in the Wanless Report to be key in achieving better outcomes and long-term cost savings for the health system.

To support active citizens, Northgate says that the government must take steps to ensure that data standards are improved and maintained. This will be key if citizens are to trust the system. The organisation says that the NHS brand could be licensed to high quality information providers and that an NHS Health Information Kite Mark could be used to develop a responsible information market.

Northgate also express concern at the presumption of online access contained within the document. The company calls on the government to provide a multi-channel approach and suggests that a levy is placed on the NHS license which goes towards funding digital inclusion programmes.

Iain McLachlan, Managing Director, Northgate Public Services, said today: "Information is key to achieving better outcomes in the health service. Whilst we support the government's overall approach, we are concerned that it does not go far enough to achieve better services for less. It is imperative that citizens are empowered to take responsibility for their own healthcare through open access to high quality information."

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Danny Calogero          
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Notes to editors

1. Northgate Public Services is an innovative provider of transformation and improvement services to the public sector. It is committed to high quality public services that place individuals and their communities at their heart. Its knowledge and understanding of people’s needs are core to its business, as too, is its depth and breadth across public services.

2. Northgate’s task is to enhance public value through the intelligent use of people and technology; to understand why and what change is necessary; to provide new thinking leading to improved performance; and to link company rewards with positive outcomes for the communities for whom it works. It supports transformation through sustainable performance partnerships.

3. In the UK, Northgate works with ninety five per cent of local authorities, every police force, and a large number of health organisations, housing associations, utilities and transport companies. Founded in 1969, the company has more than 12,000 employees.

4. Northgate Public Services was formerly divided into three divisions Northgate Public Safety, Northgate Citizens Solutions and Northgate Citizens Services. These divisions have been replaced by the four teams headed by the Managing Directors and two further teams covering finance and commercial and human resources.