DEMOS

 

The politics of healthcare in the UK have rarely been more explosive. While public attachment to the NHS ideal remains strong, many are losing faith in the service itself and with the ability of politicians and the medical professions to improve it.

In this Demos Argument, Peter Lilley makes a compelling case for making health services more responsive by giving patients real choice over where and how they receive treatment. He points out that, while both Labour and Conservatives are committed to the rhetoric of choice, current reforms are driving the last vestiges of patient choice from the system.

As active consumerism continues to grow across society, the pressure for more meaningful involvement in healthcare decisions will only grow stronger. But the argument goes much further. Lilley argues convincingly that patient choice is key to driving up standards of care, and to encouraging the specialisation and diversity that health service providers must develop in order to meet standards of excellence and make the most of new technologies.

While greater choice will not revolutionise public health services on its own, Lilley shows that it is an essential component of an NHS fit for the twenty-first century.

Peter Lilley is MP for Hitchin and Harpeden and former Conservative Secretary of State at the Department of Trade and Industry and Department for Social Security.