Understanding the New NHS

The NHS receives about £107 billion of funding annually. General practice, community care, mental health and prescribing each account for about 10%, and nearly 50% goes on acute and emergency care.

Recent changes to the NHS have resulted in clinically led commissioning, increased patient involvement, renewed focus on public health, additional responsibilities for NICE, and competition in the healthcare market for NHS funding.

NHS England has produced an updated guide on the structure and function of the NHS, taking into account the Health and Social Care Act 2012. It contains interesting facts about the NHS and explains the meaning of current jargon and the quangos such as NHS IQ; commissioning; CQUIN; “arms–length” bodies; CCGs; Public Health England; the Healthwatch network; Health and Wellbeing Boards; and the new functions of older bodies such as the Department of Health; CQC and Monitor.

Using this guide will help you to understand polices, buzzwords, and jargon regarding how the NHS works.

http://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/simple-nhs-guide.pdf

By http://www.nhsidentity.nhs.uk/tools-and-resources/download-the-nhs-logo [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons