Blair to cut red tape on health care equipment
Blair to cut red tape on health care equipment
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Thursday, 22, Jun 2006 10:32
Tony Blair will today unveil plans to give elderly and disabled people faster access to essential equipment such as wheelchairs and handrails.
Announcing a review aimed at cutting red tape in the commissioning and procurement of health and social care services, the prime minister will stress that the government is also looking at how the voluntary and private sectors can become involved in the provision of equipment.
The launch of the review coincides with the creation of a new social enterprise unit within the Department of Health – established to promote innovation and entrepreneurism in the delivery of health services.
The initiative is part of a wider government strategy to reduce bureaucratic barriers that hinder the involvement of the private and voluntary sectors in the provision of public services, Mr Blair will state in a speech to the Three Sector Summit in London.
The prime minister will also pledge to cut red tape that prevents public servants from using their "ingenuity".
Rules that prevent private and voluntary bodies bidding fairly against the public sector will also be overhauled.
Emphasising the growing role that Britain's voluntary sector has had in the country's economy and public services over the last ten years, Mr Blair will argue that the increasing influence of the so-called "third sector" has "been one of the most profound and lasting changes in society".
He will add that the rising impact of the voluntary sector has been matched by a growing sense of corporate social responsibility in the private sector and a greater recognition of consumer needs in the public sector.
The prime minister will conclude that co-operation between the country's public, private and voluntary sectors can provide a "very powerful" motor for improvements to the lives of UK citizens.
"If there are barriers that prevent this collaboration, we will remove them," Mr Blair will stress.
"It is only if we do this that we will get to the roots of some of the intractable problems we confront," the prime minister will add.