Tories would ask charities and private companies to compete for patients

Charities and private companies would be encouraged to compete with hospitals for NHS patients under a Tory government, the shadow health secretary, Andrew Lansley, has said. Hospitals could be forced to offer treatment at the same price as more "efficient" competitors in an attempt to drive down costs and ensure only efficient hospitals provide care. Lansley outlined his vision for hospital provision in a policy magazine amid reports that one of the leading players in Labour's NHS reforms has agreed to become a key adviser to the Conservatives. In a blow to Gordon Brown, Professor David Kerr, a cancer specialist who led Tony Blair's efforts to drive down waiting times, reportedly told the Times that the key principles of giving patients a choice of health services and a better understanding of how they were performing had been "driven into the sand" under Labour. In comments that will cheer the Tories as the latest opinion poll shows a narrowing lead over Labour , Kerr said the government had "run out of steam" on reforming the NHS, which is set to be a key battleground at the next election. "We have got lost in the blizzard of increasingly irrelevant targets. The position now is disenfranchising, dull, and disconnected. That is the clinical reality," Kerr told the paper . Lansley told Policy Review magazine a Conservative government would "drive efficiency" by opening up the NHS to allow charities and private organisations to compete to provide NHS services if they meet the necessary high quality standards. "By increasing the number of organisations providing care for patients, we will drive down costs and ensure NHS care is provided by only the most efficient and effective organisations," he said. "We will also move to a system where no hospital can expect to be paid more to treat patients than it costs efficient hospitals, providing powerful incentives for all organisations to save money." GPs would also be given responsibility to manage the costs of their patients' care. "With part of GPs' pay dependent upon the results of their patient's treatment, they will have a direct incentive to buy the most efficient services on behalf of their patients, because they will be able to keep any savings and use them to reinvest in their patient's care," Lansley said. The government hit back by pointing to an array of improvements in hospital services under Labour. Mike O'Brien, the junior health minister, said: "Audit Commission research published in November showed that NHS acute and specialist trusts are becoming increasingly efficient." He added: "Our new strategy, 'NHS 2010-2015: from good to great' emphasises that our focus over the next five years will be protecting and improving frontline services and supporting NHS staff to make these services more preventative and people-centred. "Our priority now is to focus the NHS on quality, innovation, productivity and prevention – that way it will be best placed to get the most out of every pound the public puts in and be better placed to maximise efficiency."