Hewitt ‘committed to NHS reform’

Patricia Hewitt, the secretary of state for health, has said she intends to drive reform onwards and that she does not believe in “artificial limits” impeding it.

She said the government was committed to preserving the “founding values” of the NHS at a time of rapid change in the nation’s health and the demands on the health service that follow.

Advances in medical technology and developments in specialist medicine mean that more can be done in people’s own homes, she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“The reason why the NHS, NHS hospitals and NHS staff, will go on providing care within a modernised NHS, is quite simply because of their commitment, their dedication, because they are providing the best,” she commented.

However, she noted the “very difficult decisions” that had to made in some areas due to financial problems, with the possibility of staff losing jobs.

Ms Hewitt accepted that this was “very frustrating for everybody”.

The government has come under fire recently from NHS staff over its decision to privatise NHS Logistics, which supplies the NHS with food and medical supplies.

German parcel delivery company DHL has been hired to deliver cost savings and bring expertise to the service, the government has claimed.