NHS Confederation and NHS Providers Respond to Intensive Recovery Programme

NHS Confederation and NHS Providers have responded to the government’s new Intensive Recovery programme, which aims to support NHS trusts that are currently struggling with performance and service delivery.

Matthew Taylor, interim chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said that recent public surveys show the NHS is starting to improve, but there is still a long way to go before public satisfaction returns to previous levels. He said it is important that the government focuses on areas where NHS performance is lower and services need more support.

He explained that poor performance in some areas is not always due to local leadership, but often because of long-term structural problems that have not been properly addressed in the past. He said local NHS leaders need government support to make important but difficult changes to local healthcare services in order to improve patient safety and quality of care.

He also said that many necessary changes were not made earlier because they were considered politically difficult. The new Intensive Recovery programme is therefore important because it focuses on supporting and improving NHS organisations rather than blaming them.

Overall, NHS leaders have welcomed the programme and said it is important to support local leaders, especially those working in the most challenging NHS organisations, so that healthcare services can improve across the country.