NHS reforms may affect medical insurance customers

The NHS should be more focused on patients and the Department of Health has unveiled a series of measures aimed at achieving this.

Announced by health secretary Andrew Lansley, the new approach is intended to free up the organisation to concentrate on the outcomes of treatment and the services provided to users.

He explained proposals have been drawn up to provide additional powers to medical staff, regulate prices and protect choice, among other plans.

Those seeking private health insurance may be interested to learn that Mr Lansley has emphasised the importance of the market remaining competitive, adding that services in the NHS will only be improved once it is "free from the shackles of central control".

Outlined in a consultation document entitled Regulating Healthcare Providers, the proposals include giving foundation trusts additional capabilities and enhancing protections for members of the public.

Mr Lansley recently published a new review of arm's length bodies that will see bureaucracy reduced and operations streamlined in order to generate £180 million worth of savings by 2014-15.