The NHS plan and clinicians

The NHS Plan issued in July 2000 is being implemented and is fundamentally trying to modernise the NHS using new organisational arrangements. At its heart is the desire to make the NHS more responsive to what the public wants and sensitive to individuals' needs and rights. National clinical priorities and targets have been identified, including emergency care, time to elective treatment, cancer, coronary heart disease, mental health and care of the elderly. Clinical standards will be increasingly under scrutiny since the Bristol Royal Infirmary and Alder Hey inquiries, and clinicians will expect their performance as individuals, and increasingly as team players, to be in the spotlight. There may be a tension between achieving safe standards and increased activity levels if shortfalls of staffing are not addressed, but ultimately clinicians will need to safeguard their standards.